Peregrine Blues
by theotherthompson
Summary: AU. Slow development. Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average, he knew this better than anyone. But Life loves throwing curve balls. "You want me to become a singer?" Poor Tsuna.
1. Days In A Normal Life

**Author's Note:** First KHR fic.I have no idea where I got the title from, but I used it and it stuck, so now I can't imagine renaming this story to something more . . . appropriate for it.

This started out as an experiment, but became something totally different. I like writing this story, so I'll continue until my steam runs out (which will hopefully be far off in the future).

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya and Reborn, because they sort of deserve it. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Bullying in later chapter, but it won't go far. Swearing, maybe.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

Peregrine Blues

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'Erm.'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

**Prologue:**  
**Days In A Normal Life**  
or  
**Blogging Is The Only Way He Can Rant**

Tsuna hummed as he opened the door to the roof top of his high school. There his friends waited for him, laughing raucously underneath the hot sun. There was a whole group of them, shouldering each other, laughing and eating each others food without asking as they talked, not once missing a beat.

"Yo, Tsuna!" One of them called after spotting him. He smiled brightly, quickening his pace so that he could sit down with them and enjoy his lunch period. "Hey," he replied quietly as they all turned around to greet him. He flopped down onto the cement next to the group with a small groan, rubbing his face tiredly. Most of the group turned back to whoever they had been chatting to before, except for his best friend.

"So, did you get your Science test back yet?" He asked as Tsuna took out his lunch. Tsuna nodded, cursing when he got a paper cut from the mass of paper he kept in his bag. He held it up to his eyes, watching irately as blood sluggishly came out from the small cut. "Well?" His friend asked impatiently as Tsuna sucked on the wound. Tsuna flashed him an amused grin, "Well what?"

The boy next to him groaned. "How did you do?" He said flailing his free hand around a bit. Tsuna laughed, but wheezed out a sorry when his friend gave him a particularly hard whack to the back in his exasperation. "I passed, okay? Stop hitting me!" He stopped hitting Tsuna.

"That's great man! All those late night study sessions actually do pay off." Tsuna almost rolled his eyes, but refrained, instead opening his bento. As usual, Nana had done an absolutely wonderful job with his lunch, including all of his favourites. A girl on the other side of the malformed circle they had going on noticed the meal, and loudly pointed it out.

"Hey, share some with us, Tuna-fish!" Another girl yelled, snatching up an octopus sausage before he could stop her. He blushed at the nickname, before complaining when everyone started eating pieces of his lunch. Pretty soon, there was a chopstick war over the last piece of shrimp- Tsuna himself was participating with much fervor.

He settled back down when his chopsticks broke though (how that happened, he wasn't sure), and contentedly watched as his friends continued to duke it out. They were trying to settle the fight with rock-paper-scissors now, and when a girl with short pink hair won the battle, she slapped the boy in front of her on the cheek in victory. "Take that, dog-face!" She exclaimed, only to be tickled by said 'dog-face'.

Tsuna laughed at their antics and-

_RING RING_.

-and woke up.

He slammed his hand down on the alarm clock turning it off. Slowly, he dragged his hand back underneath the covers before turning onto his back to stare blankly at the ceiling of his room. Another dream where his life was perfect, he thought after a while with a disappointed sigh. He sat up groggily, rubbing at his eyes a bit, then checked the time. '6:03', it read. Tsuna huffed as he finally left the warmth of his bed.

It was time to get ready for school.

- X -

_**Tuna-Fish**_**'s Blog**  
Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**My Wonderful Life**_  
**Because everyone needs a place to rant.**

_February 29th, 20XX at 5:00 PM_

It's a leap year! I barely noticed what day it was today, no one in my class talked about  
it. The girls were fan girling over every 'hot' guy, as usual. The guys were off being  
manly for the girls, or whatever they do (I honestly don't want to know), and no one  
really talked to me about it . . .

But regardless of whether or not people in my class cared, I know someone out there  
does! Happy birthday to _BunnyofDOOM_ and everyone else born on this day!

So nothing much happened today. Well, there was this transfer student that came from  
Italy. I'm going to nickname him Octopus Head, cause I honestly don't think he'll  
appreciate it if I complain using his real name and all. It'll be painful if he finds out . . .  
So anyway, he smokes, doesn't wear his school uniform properly and is your typical bad  
boy. The girls already love him, I think I heard some whispers about a fan club.

Poor guy. Fan girls _and _the Disciplinary Committee are going to be after his ass.

I don't think he likes me. In fact, he probably hates me. Why? Well, I accidentally bumped  
into him on the way to my next class. You guys can imagine how that went:

_Me:_ Oh, I'm so sorry!  
_OctoHead:_ Tch. -glare-  
_Me:_Hieeee!

Yeah. That was totally smooth, Tuna. Smooth.

I'm done with the latest request, by the way. I'll post it later, when I don't feel so lazy.  
Does anyone have any other songs that they want me to do? (As this is, frankly, my only  
hobby and probably life outside of blogging.)

**Mood:** Fretful  
**Tags: **_real life_, _school_  
_  
See previous posts_

Leave a comment [18]

_BunnyofDOOM: _Thanks! a lot of people didn't say anything about my birthday until I reminded them. Poor guy, from the way you described the Committee in your other posts, OctoHead is gonna die. Anyway, don't worry if he hates you, he's just jealous he can't be as awesome!

_Tuna-Fish: _Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Bunny! I think the internet is the only way I can get such compliments, which is pretty sad considering.

_Mr. Extreme: _EXTREME! SHOW THAT GUY WHOSE BOSS, TUNA!

_Tuna-Fish: _Um, I think you've forgotten to turn off that caps button again. And I think you misunderstand (like a lot) what exactly happened in that little exchange between OctoHead and I . . .

_Mr. Extreme: _AH, THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME, TUNA-FISH!

_Tuna-Fish: _Erm, your welcome. And thank you for reading my blog.

_Scorpion Ai:_ Hello, Tuna-Fish, how are you today? It's so sweet of you to remember Bunny's birthday. I can tell you that I have a friend whose birthday is today, and barely anyone remembered. As for OctoHead, I personally agree with Bunny. Don't mind him, sweetheart. He reminds me of my younger brother, to tell you the truth. And if I learned anything from dealing with him, it's that he loves a good meal (hint, hint). As for the request that you recently did, I can't wait until you post it, you have a lot of talent. Now if only you would sing.

_Tuna-Fish:_ (Sweetheart? . . . Never mind.) And I tend to remember the strangest things, so don't worry. Um, it think it would be a bit strange to give him lunch out of the blue, Ai. In fact, I think a lot of people would look at me strange. But thank you for the suggestion all the same. Thank you for the compliment too. I don't think that I'm that good of a singer, honestly.

_Scorpion Ai: _Nonsense. Your voice is wonderful from what little I've heard in you (only) original song. I can't sing half as well as you. If I could, I would be the singer for my brother's band. (Sweetheart is a good nickname for you.)

_Tuna-Fish: _Alright, I'll take your word for it. (But it's rather . . . effeminate, isn't it?)

_Scorpion Ai: _You should. (Then it's perfect for you.)

_Tuna-Fish: _. . . .

_Cloud: _This Octopus Head shall be bitten to death.

_Tuna-Fish: _You sound a lot like a guy I know, ha ha ha. He often says he'll "bite you to death" if you break a rule. I have no doubt that Mr Prefect could do that, but he only ever sends people to the hospital for a few days. It'll be worrying if OctoHead does die though, since he's a student and all. Maybe I should warn him.

_Cloud: _Don't bother wasting your time with the octopus herbivore. He shall be punished regardless.

_Tuna-Fish: _Erm.

_xSamuraiHeartx:_Ha ha ha, OctoHead should drink some milk! Calcium deficiency can be linked to grumpiness, I've heard!

_Tuna-Fish: _I'll keep that in mind.

* * *

**AN Note:** Rather short prologue, but meh.


	2. Reborn Isn't Just a Word

**Author's Note:** The first official chapter of Peregrine Blues! Yay!

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya and Reborn, because they sort of deserve it. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Bullying in later chapter, but it won't go far. Swearing, maybe.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter One:****  
Reborn Isn't Just a Word**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_''The water's boiling, by the way.''  
_

~ ' * ' ~

Sawada Tsunayoshi was called Dame-Tsuna at his school.

For good reason, he thinks wryly as he tries to hurry cleaning up the class room and nearly trips over his own feet.

He was called Dame-Tsuna because he couldn't do anything right.

With sports, his physical strength was next to zero. He couldn't hit back a ball, he couldn't catch anything and he had little to no stamina. With academics, he barely passed most of his classes- the only exception was Home Ec, thanks to his lovely mother Nana. It had been worse when he was in middle school. He had almost failed his first and second year. It had taken him giving up video games forever to scrape the grades he needed to go to high school. Even now, he was barely passing.

Aside from that, Tsuna was clumsy, tripping over thin air at the most inopportune moments. (Like that one time he managed to catch the foot ball but tripped a foot away from the end zone during a football game.) He was also short, somewhat skittish and never stood up for himself, making him a prime target for bullies.

But at the very least he had two possible jobs in the future- nothing big, and not high profile, of course. He could work at the local bakery full time, for one. He was working there part time as a delivery boy. Sure he got lost some times, but he delivered everything (and mostly on time) in the end. His other option was becoming a daycare or kindergarten teacher. Tsuna had a strange affinity with kids, for some reason. It was odd, but any fall back job if the baker jig didn't work was welcomed.

And really, he rather not be what his guidance counselor suggested.

But Tsuna didn't want to think about it. Especially since his guidance counselor had seemed to be serious about it- no, don't think about it, Tsuna told himself sternly as he put away the broom and dust pan. He shuffled away with a sigh and walked quickly down the hall. He made sure not to be too loud, as Hibari, the violent and strict Disciplinary Committee leader, was patrolling the school by now.

It was pretty late, Tsuna noted with a quick glance out the window.

The sun was already setting now. It was an orange, sinking orb in the horizon now, the sky around it had become a mix of orange and yellow hues. It looked rather pretty, like the type one of those sappy song writers would sing about. It made Tsuna smile softly at the thought. There probably were some songs out there about it. Regardless of song lyrics, Tsuna turned away from the sight and continued walking down the hall towards the entrance of the school. His mother was probably was likely starting dinner by now, and it would be nice to spend some quality time with her by helping out.

Suddenly, Tsuna heard a high sound. It sounded like . . . a piano. His step faltered in wonderment. Whoever was playing the instrument was obviously talented, even Tsuna could tell. He tilted his head to the side as if it would help him hear the song better. The song sounded familiar too- it sounded sort of like . . . a piano cover of a song that he listened to often, he noted. A loud bang scared him out of his thoughts, and Tsuna quickly turned around with a squeak (that no self respecting guy should be able to do- God, he hoped no one heard that).

It was only the broom that had fallen out of the closet.

Tsuna's eye twitched, and he wondered if he could just leave it alone and go home already- but banished the thought as soon as it had come. If Hibari found out, he would surely be beaten black and blue. Best make it quick, he supposed and with that he walked briskly to the fallen broom and returned it to its rightful home. With that done, he turned on his heel and walked- hopefully nothing else would happen, otherwise he would never get home on time.

The piano song was over, Tsuna mourned when he finally realized how silent it was. Oh well, Tsuna thought to himself. There was always Youtube. He quickened his pace, humming a part of the song he had just heard quietly in the empty halls.

The sun sank further into the horizon.

By the time he got home, it was already quite late. Tsuna supposed that he wouldn't be able to help his mother anymore, especially if he wanted to finish all his homework so he could do his job tomorrow. Thank God it was a Friday. Tsuna didn't think that he could handle another day of being trampled over as if he was nothing but dirt.

(Although there were a plethora of people who would argue that he really was dirt beneath their expensive, brand name soles.)

He opened the front door of his house tiredly, and closed the door behind him with the uplifting thought that he wouldn't have to go back into the world for a while more. "I'm back!" Tsuna called out at the entrance, toeing off his shoes.

Predictably, his mother came out from wherever she had been in the house to greet him. "Welcome back, Tsu-kun! How was school?" He hummed noncommittally after he gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "It was fine." Nana beamed, pulling her son back to give him a hug, ignoring his complaints.

Tsuna blushed lightly when she finally let go and moved hurriedly to his room. His mother was locking the door when he passed by the kitchen, and smelling nothing he became curious. Usually at this time his mother was already half way through making their meal, and the house would smell like a variety of delicious food. "Mom?" Tsuna asked, looking at the slightly ditzy woman behind him.

"Have you started dinner yet?"

Immediately, her face lit up in this sort of surprised dread that made your heart wretch. A look that she had perfected, Tsuna mused. "Oh no! I haven't even started- I was so busy talking to Reborn-san!" She wailed, already rushing past him. He let out a huff of amusement. Looks like he would have some quality time with his mother after all.

"I'll help out with dinner, mom, just let me change."

His mother looked back at him with a wide, sunny smile. "You're such a good son Tsu-kun! I'll go start," she exclaimed before ducking through the kitchen doorway. He shook his head in fond exasperation and trudged up the staircase without another word. Halfway up, he paused in thought.

Who was Reborn?

The name sounded a bit familiar, somehow. However, it was a foreign name too, and Tsuna couldn't remember meeting anyone from out of the country. It also gave him a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, and the urge to hide until the danger had passed, much like what he felt around bullies. But that couldn't be right. Tsuna didn't think he had met this Reborn person at all.

Tsuna pondered over the topic a bit more before shrugging. Whoever it was was probably someone from his father's work- they came over often enough. And they had probably left already. Yes, it wasn't any problem of his, he told himself as he threw open his bedroom door. "Right, ignore the feeling in your gut that's telling you your world is going to burn, Sawada," he muttered to himself unconvincingly.

He closed the door out of habit and started stripping.

Tsuna huffed in irritation. He didn't know why he was so fixated on this Reborn. Even if his instincts were usually right, it wasn't like they were infallible.

Clad in only his boxers, the nice blue one covered in fish that his mother had given him for Christmas as a gag gift, he walked over to his minuscule closet. Quickly, Tsuna pulled on some comfortable shorts, only for him to chuck it back in when he realized that it had no pockets. He dug around a bit before he found shorts that were equally as comfortable, plain _and _had pockets.

He needed some new clothes, he thought to himself as he pulled on a thin, old shirt over his skinny body. His wardrobe was getting a bit ragged.

Tsuna grabbed his iPod, the most expensive thing he owned and wouldn't dare leave the house with in fear of thieves (_bullies_) and put it on a random song. He adjusted his orange headphones on his head until it felt comfortable, tucked it away in his pocket and left the room to his mother downstairs. He let the music was over him and basked in the content feeling that music always gave him.

He stomped down the stairs two at a time, arriving at the kitchen in record time. Nana gave him a big smile, waving him over with her free hand. "Tsu-kun, could you cook the pasta for me?" Tsuna blinked at the odd request, but put on the spare white apron hanging on a hook and did as he was told. They didn't eat foreign food often, but when they did it was a nice change. "Do I add oil?" He asked her as he boiled the water. She gave him an affirmative, busy chopping up some ingredients for . . . something.

Maybe he should do some more research on foreign things?

"Oh dear," the sound of a knife against wood stopped, "What is it?" Tsuna asked her. She gave him a sheepish smile.

"I forgot some ingredients- Tsuna, take care of everything while I go to the store!" She shouted, running out of the kitchen before she even finished her sentence. "Mom, wait!" He abandoned the pasta to run into the hall. "Do I have to chop everything up?" Tsuna yelled at her from the kitchen's doorway. Nana was at the entrance, already pulling on her coat, "Just follow the recipe!"

And out she went.

Tsuna's shoulders slumped dejectedly as the door slammed shut. His mother running out and leaving him to make dinner sort of defeated his purpose of volunteering. Oh well, dinner won't cook itself. Tsuna shuffled back to the counter, taking a moment to peer into the pot to see if the water had boiled yet- it wasn't. He huffed impatiently and left the lid off as he moved to the counter littered with vegetables.

_Now. Where's the recipe? _Tsuna thought to himself as he rummaged around. "Ah," there it was. He looked at the bold letters at the top pf the page, "Stuffed green peppers? What country is that from?" It didn't sound very appetizing, but okay. He reached for the knife his mother had carelessly left on the counter, skimming through the recipe with practiced ease-

"This recipe's an Italian one," a deep voice said next to his ear.

Tsuna squealed the most unmanliest squeal he had squealed yet. He twirled around, banging his hip on the counter as he turned, and held the knife in front of him. The stranger in front of him had moved back during Tsuna's shrill cry, smoothly avoiding the knife by what seemed to be instinct. There was a beat of surprised silence, and Tsuna took that moment to get a look at the man in front of him.

He was tall. That was the first thing that Tsuna noticed.

Incredibly tall, considering Tsuna's non-existent height. His hair was as messy as Tsuna's, except instead of going everywhere like his did, it went upwards. The man's curly side bangs seemed a bit quirky on his chiseled face, but tied pretty well with his narrow eyes. He was handsome, there was no doubt about that. But what was worrying was that this man was in his house, possibly had been here before Tsuna had come, judging by his relaxed state of dress- the tie he wore was loose, and a few of the top buttons of his yellow dress shirt (_Yellow? Seriously?_) were undone.

"Ciaosu, my name is Reborn." Reborn, as in the guy his mother had been talking to before he came home? The knife wavered slightly in his grasp, and Reborn quickly snatched it up and put it back in it's place in the wooden knife holder.

"Ah . . . I'm Tsunayoshi. Tsuna for short." He replied almost mechanically, his mind whirring in thought. Rapidly, he came up with conclusions and assumptions, but discarded them the same second. He needed a suitable reason, one that made sense and wasn't a product of his (intense) paranoia and imagination. "A-are you the guest that my mother mentioned?" He asked Reborn tentatively. Reborn smirked back at him. Tsuna had to remind himself that this man wasn't part of the Yakuza at the dangerous smile- _He's foreign! Maybe he's part of the mafia!_- and was not there to take his mother as a consort (or something equally as cliche).

No, his mother wouldn't let anyone like that into the house. (In fact, she must have known this man well, as she had left Tsuna with Reborn without a single worry-)

"Yes, I am."

Oh god, his mother had finally gave up on Iemitsu and was looking for his new Papa.

"The water's boiling, by the way."

- X -

_**Tuna-Fish**_**'s Blog**  
Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**My Wonderful Life**_  
**Because everyone needs a place to rant.**

_March 3rd, 20XX at 10:43 PM_

So. This mysterious guy has moved into my house, for equally mysterious reasons. I'm not  
sure if I want to know, honestly. I'm nicknaming him Sunny (oh god, that just makes me  
giggle so much) for practical reasons.

Sunny is . . . hard to describe. He's the tall, dark and handsome type. Italian too, like  
OctoHead. (For those who don't remember, he's the new, hot-blooded transfer student)  
My mom loves him. Which I'm not sure if I dislike or not, considering that he's staying at  
my home for an indefinite amount of time.

He's apparently a successful band manager, which is sort of cool.

. . . I have a feeling my life won't be so simple anymore. Pity.

Anyway, I've uploaded a new video- Hey Ya by Outkast, an acoustic cover done by me.  
I did a few nights ago, but was too lazy to post it. I like procrastinating, as the people  
who follow me know. Very well, I would think.

Ugh, I need to go to bed. I have work tomorrow.

**Mood:** Anxious  
**Tags: **_real life_, _music_

_See previous posts_

Leave a comment [31]  
_  
__Scorpion Ai: _So you finally posted the cover, I was wondering when you would. You procrastinate far too much, Tuna-Fish. Oh, Sunny reminds me of my love, oddly.

_Tuna-Fish: _Really? Well, there are lot's of people in the world. Whose to say there isn't someone like me on the other side of the world?

_Scorpion Ai: _My love is one of a kind, Sweetheart.

_Tuna-Fish: _Um. Okay. (I thought you would stop calling me that)

_Scorpion Ai: _Why would I stop? Good job on the cover, by the way.

_Tuna-Fish: _Never mind. (And thank you)

_Mr. Extreme: _Extreme job on the cover, Tuna-Fish! If you need me to get rid of Sunny, just ask!

_Tuna-Fish: _Thank you, on both accounts (I think). I don't think that I'll need to, ah, get rid of Sunny though.

_Mr. Extreme: _THE OFFER STILL STANDS!

_Tuna-Fish: _You forgot the caps button again.

_Cloud: _Hm. Are you on your school's band?

_Tuna-Fish: _No, actually. I get bullied enough as it is. I think if I join the band they'll just tease me about that too.

_Cloud: _Do you get bullied often? Tell one of your Disciplinary Committee members, they shall take care of it (or is your school that undisciplined? Should I . . . visit?). You should join the band, regardless. My own school needs talent if they wish to win any competitions.

_Tuna-Fish: _It's not that bad, anymore. It was worse in middle school. (It's rather the opposite- people are afraid of breaking rules, for good reason too.) I don't have much time for after school activities like that, so I won't be able to join the choir.

_Cloud: _Hn. That job you mean? Does your school allow you to take on part time jobs? Answer me truthfully, or I'll bite you to death.

_Tuna-Fish: _Um. You're starting to sound scarily like Mr Prefect at my school. But yes, I am allowed to have a job.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Hey Sweetheart! Great job on the cover. can I request a song, by the way? My sister was playing all these random songs one afternoon, and when I heard one song I was wondering what it would sound like if you sang it. Pretty please?

_Tuna-Fish: _Ha ha, sure I'll try it. What's the name of the song? (Not you too. Seriously, what is with that nickname?)

_BunnyofDOOM: _It's Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye. Thank you so much! (Because it sounds cute on you. I can see how tiny you look in your videos- are you sure you're in high school? Hell, are you sure you're a guy?) Good luck with Sunny, by the way.

_Tuna-Fish: _It's no problem, you've been with this blog since the very start after all ^_^ (I am very sure about my age, Bunny. Is it a sport to crush my manly pride?) I'm going to need that luck . . .

_BunnyofDOOM: _Ha ha, not that long! (What manly pride?)

_Tuna-Fish: _Ignoring the blow to my non-existent ego, I'll post the video as soon as I can.

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Wow, you're pretty good with the guitar! Are you in a band or something?

_Tuna-Fish: _Thank you! And no, I'm not part of any band. As I said with Cloud, I don't have the time for it.

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Ha ha ha, that's a pity. I know a band that can use a singer like you.

_KuRoMu: _Sunny sounds a bit like my brother's band manager. Does he manage teenage bands?

_Tuna-Fish: _Ah, you're new here. It's nice to meet you, KuRoMu. Thank you for reading my blog. I don't know if Sunny is managing teenage bands right now. He doesn't talk much about his job. Guess it adds to the mysterious image, huh?

_KuRoMu:_It's nice to meet you as well, Tuna-Fish. I suppose it does add to his image.

_RedDragon: _Ah, I listened to this song not so long ago when I asked one of my workers what song he was humming. You did a great rendition of it, Tuna-Fish. Perhaps you should get to sleep, it wouldn't do for you to fall asleep on the job, right? I'd recommend getting eight solid hours of sleep, considering that you are still in high school. How is your education going, by the way?

_Tuna-Fish: _Oh, I haven't heard from you in some time! How are you doing, Dragon? Thank you for the advice, but I'm prone to random bouts of insomnia, so it would be a bit hard to get eight hours daily without taking random naps during the day (my teachers will be less than impressed). School is going okay. I'm slowly bringing my grades up to a B.

_RedDragon:_ I am doing well, thank you for asking. I was rather busy last week, so I am a bit behind on what has been happening. That's good, your parents will no doubt be proud.

* * *

**AN Note:** And that's Chapter One. I'll post Chapter Two when I finish it.


	3. Band Names

**Author's Note:** A lot of people have asked me who BunnyofDOOM and RedDragon are. Well, Bunny isn't a character from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. She's just a random person that reads the blog and comments (sort of like an OC). Bunny is actually (loosely) based on me, but seems to have grown into a character of her own in my mind. A fairly perverted one, at that. She won't have any major effect on the story, so those who dislike OC's can relax. RedDragon himself _is_ a character from KHR. He will be sort of revealed in the next chapter, so be patient!

Aside from that, some more characters are introduced in this chapter! See if you can name them all.

**EDIT (May 20th):** Thank you, Tsuna De Vongola Decimo, for pointing out that little mistake! If anyone else spots a mistake, don't hesitate to tell me.

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Bullying in later chapter, but it won't go far. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Two:****  
Band Names  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'Friday nights will never be the same.'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

Saturdays were Tsuna's all time favourite days. Seriously.

Every Saturday, he spent all his morning completing a tedious but well loved routine, and would always consider the morning perfect, even if it was raining cats and dogs outside. Like right now.

Tsuna woke up with the sun most Saturdays. But this Saturday didn't have any sun to behold. He woke up around six thirty, giving his alarm clock a confused glare and got out of bed. Tsuna stood up, shivering slightly at the cold- a shirt and boxers could only do so much to protect him from the chill, Tsuna thought. He padded over to his window and threw the curtains open. Nothing but the rain pounding on his window greeted him. He couldn't see anything outside, and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon.

Tsuna inwardly shuddered at the thought of running through the rain to get to work that afternoon.

But instead of dwelling on it, Tsuna grabbed some clothes and took a nice, hot shower. Screw being a worrywart, it was too early.

Tsuna grumbled as he shuffled out of the bathroom not fifteen minutes later, moving towards the kitchen. It was seven o'clock by the time Tsuna finished a cup of green tea and felt somewhat alive. By that time, his mother had come down the stairs, wrapped up in a fluffy bathrobe and gave her son a sunny smile. She was definitely a morning person, Tsuna scowled slightly (and no, Mom, he did not pout, as it is _unmanly_) as she regaled him with her plans for the day.

"-I'll be leaving at ten to go to a piano recital with my friend, so I'll put lunch in the fridge." Nana said as she started cooking in a flurry of movement. Tsuna barely caught it over the din and his own inattention. She paused in her idle chatter, waiting for something. Tsuna blinked at her stupidly for a few moments before his mouth made an 'oh' in realization. "Okay."

She gave him another warm smile before going back to her somewhat trivial rambling (not that Tsuna found it annoying, he found it rather soothing actually). Soon the sound of sizzling filled the air as his mother fluttered around the kitchen. Sort of like a butterfly, Tsuna mused. She was fickle enough considering how quickly she changed hobbies (but that was one of her exasperating charms). Tsuna sipped at his second cup of tea, blinking in a slow, almost lizard-like manner.

He inhaled the scent of the bitter tea, grimacing slightly. Tsuna rather preferred black tea, but they had ran out of that a few days ago.

"Eat up!" His mother said as she set some food in front of him. It was eggs and rice, with a side of miso soup this morning. It was dish that his mother only served when she was too busy to make a proper breakfast. "Thank you," he muttered to her, putting his cup down to pull his food closer. He ate slowly, enjoying the warmth the food gave him and the salty flavour of the miso soup. He gradually cleared his plate and finished his tea. Contentedly, he picked up the dishes and took them to the sink to wash them. There was a bunch of other things his mother had used and hadn't had the time to wash in there, so Tsuna decided to wash that all while he was there.

"Oh, thank you Tsu-kun!" His mother called as he left to go upstairs to his room. He didn't reply to her, his mind fixed on hiding in his room for a few more hours with only his laptop, battered notebook and (ancient) guitar for company. That would be lovely, Tsuna mused as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Chaos." Tsuna immediately paused his ascent up the stairs to look in front of him. The greeting was different from yesterday's, but Tsuna probably figured that it was because when they had first met, Reborn had just woken up from an impromptu nap.

Reborn stood tall at the top of the stairs, already dressed sharply and looking for all the world like he had just stepped out of The Godfather II (or something similar), only with extra sparkles for the ladies. Ah, one of the people that Tsuna had made a point to avoid if he wanted to live his life in relative peace, up there with Mochida and chihuahuas. Tsuna neatly stepped to the side, muttering a weak 'good morning'. He ignored the smugness radiating from the older man. It was probably nothing important.

He kept his head down low, continuing to climb the stairs. Reborn brushed past him with out a word, leaving Tsuna feeling like had just escaped death. And maybe he did (Reborn was not shy when it came to certain matters, like cleaning a gun on the kitchen table- Friday nights will never be the same).

He breathed a sigh of relief as he made it to the second floor without Reborn randomly coming back up, making his way through the dark hallway to the room at the very end. The door was a light coloured wood, tacked on was a sign that had come from his childhood- a plaque of a fish with his name written in white print inside it. The door was slightly ajar, which was strange, considering that Tsuna usually closed it properly when they had company over (Reborn). Tsuna's brows furrowed in thought as he cautiously poked the door open.

It creaked as it swung inwards, showing Tsuna a disorganized and messy room. Nothing strange so far, Tsuna noted as he stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and made for his desk that was buried under various pieces of paper, pausing when his bare foot hit a pile of dirty clothes- his uniform. Tsuna huffed as he picked it up and tossed it into the laundry basket his mother had put in his room. The place seemed a bit neater without the clothes sprawled over the hardwood, Tsuna chuckled. Well, his room could be worse, he thought as he threw a rolled up sock into the laundry basket as if it was a basketball.

He moved to his desk now that the floor was relatively cleared (ignoring his bag in the corner and the seat cushions on the floor). Tsuna grabbed the papers scattered over the wooden surface, pulling them together to make a messy stack in the corner of his desk. Underneath the numerous papers Tsuna spotted the silver of his laptop's cover, grinning widely he pulled it out and booted it up.

He was going to have to find the chords for that song Bunny had requested- Tsuna wondered what type of song it was. Bunny wasn't the type to go for hard rock songs, thankfully- Tsuna couldn't do those songs for the life of him.

He opened up the browser, pausing for a moment to search for the name of the songs that he needed. Tsuna had written it down in his notebook last night, but it always took him a moment to sort through all of the print outs of chords and lyrics, along with folded up pictures of bands and the occasional flyer. Ah, there it was- Somebody That I Used to Know, what a long name. That didn't sound very cheery, Tsuna discerned. The lyrics only fortified that thought.

_Well,_ Tsuna mused as he printed a copy of the chords, _time to get started._

But first, he had to fetch that print out from the living room.

- X -

**- **_**Tuna-Fish has joined the chatroom**_** -**

**Tuna-Fish: **Hey guys.

**Bucking Bronco: **Hi Tuna!

**True-Flame: **Morning Tuna-Fish.

**Tuna-Fish: **So what were you guys talking about?

**Bucking Bronco: **Nothing much, really. Mostly about that new band that everyone is going on about.

**Tuna-Fish: **Which one?

**True-Flame: **That band that really big company Vongola has their eyes on, Decimo.

**Bucking Bronco: **Ha ha, did you guys know that Decimo means mean tenth in Italian?

**Tuna-Fish: **Really? I don't know Italian at all

**True-Flame: **It's true, Tuna.

**Bucking Bronco: **Eh, you know Italian too Flame-kun?

**True-Flame: **Yeah, I do.

**Tuna-Fish: **Eh? You both know Italian? I feel so left out . . .

**Bucking Bronco: **Ha ha, don't worry about it, Tuna! Italian isn't taught much in Japan anyway.

**- **_**Jaws has joined the chatroom**_** -**

**Jaws: **Vooi! What are you idiots talking about?

**Tuna-Fish: **Erm, what were we talking about again?

**Jaws: **Tch, idiot.

**Bucking Bronco: **That's mean Jaws. We were only talking about teh new band Decimo.

**Bucking Bronco: ***the

**True-Flame: **What was the other band that you mentioned, Tuna?

**Tuna-Fish: **Eh? Oh, the band is called Shimon.

**True-Flame: **Shimon?

**Jaws: **Haven't heard of it. Must be shit.

**Bucking Bronco: **Hmm, I think I've heard of it. Can't really remember though.

**Tuna-Fish: **Am I the only one who likes Shimon? Seriously? They're good though . . .

**Bucking Bronco: **Well, if you say it's good, then I bet it probably is.

**Jaws: **What the hell? Why aren't you this supportive with my band, you bastard?

**Bucking Bronco: **You shouldn't swear here, Jaws-chan. There's minors.

**Jaws: **Voi! I'll fucking kill you!

**True-Flame: **Um, we really shouldn't fight . . .

**Tuna-Fish: **I agree with Flame for this one, guys.

**Bucking Bronco: **Alright, alright.

**Jaws: **Tch.

**True-Flame: **Uh, if you don't mind me asking Tuna, what's your favourite song from the band Shimon?

**Tuna-Fish: **Eh? Well, it'll have to be Paperthin Hymn*.

**- **_**XX has joined the chatroom **_**-**

**XX: **Oi, trash, what the fuck is this shit?

**- **_**Froggy has joined the chatroom**_** -**

**Jaws: **Vooi! I thought you were asleep!

**Froggy: **Well, he isn't now.

**Bucking Bronco: **Wow, it's getting rather crowded now.

**Jaws: **Shut the fuck up, Bronco! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, FROGGY?

**Froggy: **You really should learn how to use lower case letters, long-hair-senpai.

**Jaws**: VOI! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!

**XX: **Shut the fuck up scum. You're wasting space.

**- **_**Jaws has signed off **_**-**

**Froggy: **Oh dear.

**- **_**Froggy has signed off**_** -**

**XX: **Tch. Fucking trash.

**- **_**XX has signed off **_**-**

**Tuna-Fish: **Um.

**Bucking Bronco: **Ha ha, don't worry about it. They're friends in real life, so they're probably just going to meet up.

**True-Flame: **. . . Right.

**True-Flame: **So you liked Paperthin Hymn the best?

**Tuna-Fish: **Yep

**Tuna-Fish: **They've done a lot of great covers too, though.

**Bucking Bronco: **Eh, both bands don't have much original songs, now that I think about it.

**True-Flame: **True. But writing songs is rather hard, isn't it?

**Bucking Bronco: **There's some good songwriters out there though.

**T****una-Fish: **Ah, sorry, but I have to go to work now.

**Bucking Bronco: **We'll talk later, Tuna-Fish!

**True-Flame: **Good bye,

**- **_**Tuna-Fish has signed off**_** -**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

*_Paperthin Hymn_ is by Anberlin.

Thumbs up to anyone who knows who True-Flame is! For those who can't guess, I'll be giving a really big hint next chapter!


	4. Say What?

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone! There's really big hints on who RedDragon and True-Flame is in this chapter. I congratulate anyone who has guessed correctly before hand! On another note, someone brought something up; should I include the Primo generation? I would appreciate your opinion! Also, constructive criticism is welcomed. Good advice to help me improve my writing will be treated like gold.

Thank you, everyone (anonymous or not) that reviewed!

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Implications of bullying and actual bullying in later chapters. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Three:****  
Say What?  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'I really need to remember to knock.'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

Two weeks after Reborn had come, Tsuna had gotten used to the mysterious man living with him and his mother.

He still scared Tsuna though.

It could have just been him, since his mother seemed to love the Italian, but Tsuna couldn't help but feel scared (shitless) whenever the man would give him that strange, considering look. Or when he glanced at Tsuna while he was cleaning his gun. (Where the hell did he get that freaking gun?) But then again, a lot of things scared Tsuna. It was a part of who he was.

But he really wished that Reborn wouldn't burst into his room randomly while he was studying and 'tutor' him. Although his spartan methods were, dare he say it, _working_. He actually got a C plus on his math test, his worst subject, last week. How awesome was that?

At least Reborn wasn't in the house all the time. He was often out of the house when Tsuna came home, and would stay away until dinner time. Sometimes he would come back earlier, and proceed to torture Tsuna via tutoring, but mostly that was reserved for weekends, when Tsuna was in his room agonizing over homework. He could proudly say that Reborn's sudden appearances did not make him squeal as much as before.

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna jumped, almost losing his grip on the bicycle he was pushing along beside him as he turned around with panic in his eyes. A redheaded boy stood behind him, bandages and bruises littered upon his thin body, his red eyes holding a spark of amusement in them. "Enma," Tsuna greeted the boy with a warm smile. He paused in his walk back to the bakery after a delivery to allow the boy to catch up. "How are you?" He asked as they continued their walk to the workplace.

"Fine," the other boy mumbled, adjusting the strap of his bag. Tsuna hummed, looking forward once again.

Kozato Enma was the other boy that worked in the bakery. Like Tsuna, the boy was bullied a lot, and was seen as pathetic by his peers. But their boss was kind, and had hired them anyway. Tsuna didn't know much about Enma, as he was often out doing deliveries- the bakery was rather popular, after all. But when it was raining, or he had no deliveries to do, Tsuna would stay inside the shop and help out with in the kitchen and he would be able to talk to Enma.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" Tsuna commented, looking up at the sky with a small smile. He had long ago gotten used to being the one to initiate conversations between them. Enma mumbled back a quiet affirmative, staring at his worn shoes.

They arrived at their workplace moments later, both pausing for a moment to simply take in the small shop. It had large glass windows, letting people peer inside to see the numerous treats displayed. It had a quiet and peaceful atmosphere to it, despite the vibrant red letters proclaiming the shop to be _Long Bakery_*. "Well, I have to go through the back," Tsuna said with a slightly sheepish voice as he pointed at the bike he had at his side. Enma nodded in understanding, parting away from him to walking through the door.

Tsuna walked towards the dark alley between the bakery and the music store that Tsuna frequented, pushing the bike along. It wasn't so much of an alley as a few feet of space between the two stores. It was dark, narrow and was damper than Tsuna would have liked. It was always a bit awkward for Tsuna to maneuver the bike in there, with all the trash cans and ever-present boxes littering his way.

Hop, step and a little skip.

The music store must have gotten a shipment, considering how crowded the alley was that day. Tsuna huffed tiredly as he finally reached the back door of the bakery, wondering to himself if he should exercise a bit more as he hid the bike away behind the trash bins. He opened the back door (more like a side door), wandering inside the (frequently ignored) staff door loudly.

The smell of sweets and other saccharine treats wafted into the room. Tsuna breathed in the fragrant air contentedly, making sure the door was shut tightly behind him before moving deeper into the room. The light had been left on, illuminating the tiny room's few lockers. It reminded Tsuna of a locker room, only smaller and much cleaner. The boy's change rooms were horrible most days.

Tsuna breezed past the room, heading towards the office, the most likely place his boss would be at this time of the day. He opened the door without any hesitation, pausing when the body of his shirtless boss was the first thing he saw. His boss was actually quite fit, Tsuna noted absently. Muscles ripped under his pale skin that was usually hidden underneath his shirt. He also had a very distinct dragon tattoo.

(Which oddly made him think of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but considering his boss's long hair, it wasn't hard to see why).

His boss was frozen, holding a soaking wet shirt in his hands- so that was why the man was half naked.

_I really need to remember to knock_, Tsuna thought wryly once his brain started functioning again. Outwardly, he blurted out an embarrassed apology before slamming the door closed. He stepped away from the door, his expression dazed. Silence reigned for a few seconds before Tsuna finally muttered out, "So that's the reason for the bakery's name."

A moment later, the plain, wooden door opened yet again, this time from the other side. "I'm sorry about that, Tsuna."

Tsuna grimaced, "If it was anyone's fault, it was mine, Fon-san. Sorry." Fon, his boss, laughed lightly, waving it off. Fon's new shirt was a bit damp, and the man looked a bit flustered. His fault. Right.

Fon coughed, "Did you want something?"

"Oh!" Tsuna felt a bit stupid, now. "I was just going to tell you that I'm done for the day," Tsuna mumbled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Fons smiled gently, calming Tsuna's frazzled nerves somewhat.

"Alright then, have a good day." Fon said simply, still smiling down at Tsuna. Tsuna nodded, taking a few steps back and turning on the spot- this time he was going through the front entrance. He was going to go home now, get rid of the image of his boss (he felt pretty self-conscious now, because he had no muscles _at all_) and kill time on his computer. As usual- well, not the thing about his boss.

He yawned tiredly. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He had spent the night finishing some homework because of his house guest, but at least he had more free time now. What he would do with that free time he had no idea. (He did not want to even look at the rest of his science homework right now, _no_.)

"Tsuna!" Tsuna stopped, turning around. Enma was standing behind the counter of the bakery, an expression of jittery apprehension on his face.

Tsuna smiled warmly at the boy, "Hey Enma," he greeted for the second time that day. "What's up?"

Enma looked down at his feet for a few moments, fidgeting with his apron. "U-um," he stuttered, making Tsuna wonder how the boy was shyer than even him. Enma looked up at him then, his eyes filled with fierce determination and mouth open to start talking. Maybe he wasn't as shy and timid as everyone thought- he definitely had a certain fire to his eyes.

The bell rang, signifying that a customer had come. On reflex, Tsuna looked away from Enma and greeted the new customer with a stutter. Oh, it was the new student, Octopus head- Gokudera something. His glare was even worse than the last time that Tsuna received it. Stiffly, Tsuna mouthed good bye to Enma, who was looking at him with a bit of uncertainty on his face. Tsuna left quickly, still afraid of the silver-haired boy.

Grudges were complicated things.

He closed the door quietly behind him, standing in front of the shop to sigh tiredly, looking up on a whim. The sky was orange now, as the sun was just starting to set. His mother was probably coming home now, grocery bags in tow. He had no idea what Reborn did when he went out. (Frankly, he'd rather not know.) That meant that he could probably practice his guitar in his room until dinner- when Reborn usually came back.

"Tsuna!"

Suddenly he was falling, something sharp and pointy jammed into the small of his back and the ground rushing up to give him a friendly hug. "Oof!" Tsuna groaned once he landed, already rolling over to get the heavy weight on his back off. A yelp made him pause, before turning over so fast he got whiplash, bracing a hand against the warm pavement to steady himself. Bright red hair and a tired face- Enma.

"Sorry," Enma wheezed out as he sat up, rubbing his head abashedly. The light flashed on Enma's name tag, bringing Tsuna's attention to it. The kanji read 'true flame', Tsuna noticed. (It reminded him of something . . .)

Tsuna shook his head with a small smile, massaging the ache on his shoulder. Enma gave a sheepish smile back, his back hunched as he looked shyly at Tsuna. Enma opened his mouth, before closing it again with a clack. "Did you want something?" Tsuna asked after a few repeat attempts by Enma. Tsuna felt a flash of deja vu.

"I- uh, I wanted to invite you t-to-" Enma muttered the last bit so low that Tsuna couldn't make any sense of it.

"Er, could you repeat that?"

"I wanted to invite you over to- tomibrandspractise."

"I'm sorry, what?" Tsuna felt bad. Really.

Enma took a deep breath, then another, and another, before finally answering, much calmer than he was before. "I wanted to invite you over to my brand's practice tomorrow." His voiced sounded a bit deeper and a lot smoother, Tsuna discerned. Enma looked up, his red eyes seemingly brighter and his face set determinedly. It felt like Tsuna was looking at a different person when he spoke again, calm and confident in a way that Enma had never been. "That is, if you're free."

Tsuna blinked, unsure what to say. This was the first time anyone had invited them to anything (sincerely, at least). Should he go?

_Why not?_

"Ah, sure,"

Gokudera walked out of the shop right that moment.

- X -

_**Tuna-Fish**_**'s Blog  
**Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**My Wonderful Life**_**  
****Because everyone needs a place to rant.**

_March 17th, 20XX at 9:12 PM_

I . . . I was invited to an event by someone else that may actually have a life? What is  
this nonsense?

Ha ha. But I actually was invited to someone's home. For their band's practice. (Omfg,  
_yay__!_) Apparently they wanted someone unbiased to listen to them and help them  
improve. I don't know why they think that I might be able to help them, but really, even  
I am better than nothing, right?

So ha.

Anyway, I'm going tomorrow, so I'll have to push back Bunny's song request and do it  
later. Maybe next Saturday. (And if I'm still in a good mood, I'll even sing for you, Bunny.  
Isn't that exciting?)

My mother was so proud of me when I told her. Sunny just gave me the stink eye. But  
he's always giving someone a look (Sunny's I Know Something You Wish I Didn't Look (c)  
gets me every time), so I guess it's fine.

Oh. I just remembered that I still have to finish my homework.

Does anyone know what's after anaphase in mitosis?

**Mood: **Giddy**  
****Tags: **_real life_, _music, event_

_See previous posts_

Leave a comment [37]

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Wow, that sounds like fun! All I'm doing tomorrow is helping my dad out with the restaurant, not that I dislike it or anything! Ha ha ha! Sorry, but I don't know anything about science, so I can't help you there. Good luck with your homework, by the way!

_Tuna-Fish: _Does your family own the restaurant, or are you just helping out your Dad out? And thank you. I procrastinated on my homework because I thought that I had tomorrow to do it, and now I'm sort of panicking Dx

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Yep! Me and my pops own the business and everything. Actually, he was thinking of expanding it this summer. I think he works too much, to tell the truth. Ha ha ha! I do the same thing all the time!

_Tuna-Fish: _Really? That's so cool! Not the part about him working too much, that is. Have you tried to get him to relax? Maybe you could get a family member or friend to help you take care of the restaurant and let your Dad rest for a day?

_xSamuraiHeartx: _That's a great idea! Ha ha ha, thanks a lot Tuna-Fish!

_Tuna-Fish: _No problem.

_RedDragon: _That's great Tuna-Fish! I can see that you're very excited about this. Unfortunately, it's been awhile since I've done any science, so I can't answers your question either. How are you with school, by the way?

_Tuna-Fish: _Hey RedDragon. Yes, I am very excited. This is pretty much my first (semi, not really) group outing since I've started high school. I'm doing okay in school, I guess. The teachers are starting to bring out the harder stuff, but so far I'm keeping afloat.

_RedDragon: _I'm surprised that it's your first group outing. You always seem so outgoing and friendly. If you're having trouble with school work ask your teacher for help, or any adult. I'm sure that they'll be happy to help.

_Tuna-Fish: _Well, you know how people are on the internet; as soon as they log on, it's like they're a completely different person. I suppose I'm one of them. Thank you for the advice, by the way.

_Scorpion Ai: _Hello, Sweetheart. Procrastinating as usual, I see. Do finish the request as soon as possible; Bunny and I would love to see how you perform the song. Also, on your homework, can't you Google your question? And how is the situation with OctoHead?

_Tuna-Fish: _. . . I'm an idiot. Thank you for reminding me that the internet isn't only for blogging. I will try to finish the request. If I finish all my homework in time, I might be able to do it on Wednesday night. OctoHead? There's been no progress. In fact, I ran into him today and I think he hates me even more. (I'm not a girl, so could you not use that nickname? Please?)

_Scorpion Ai: _Hm, yes. I have a talent for pointing these things out. Don't burn yourself out for our little request, Tuna. We can be patient. I still say that you should give OctoHead a homemade lunch. My little brother loves my own cooking, and always forgives me after a fight when I give him my special choc chip cookies. (Never.)

_Tuna-Fish: _Maybe I will give him a lunch box. If only to stop your rants on how food made with love can fix almost everything. (I give up.)

_Scorpion Ai: _You should have given up a long time ago. On both accounts.

_Tuna-Fish: _. . .

_BunnyofDOOM: _Gah, my timing is really bad today. Usually I'm the first to comment on your blog! (Mainly because I have nothing better to do than troll around and memorize your life story.) I'm glad that you're getting out of the house, 'cause I know that you usually spend you weekends working or stay in your room doing something obscure. But since I won't be getting my song anytime soon, I demand that you sing this time! And send me photos of the lunch you make for OctoHead. I need to lie to my friend overseas about my ability to cook, and everything on the internet is too fancy or weird looking.

_Tuna-Fish: _(And stalking me online isn't creepy at all. Right.) I would ask how you know what I do on the weekends, but I really don't want to know. On another note, I will sing for you. Just this once because I think my happy mood will last all week and then some . . . Unless something bad happens while I'm at my not-quite friend's band practice. Then I'll just sound really depressed and probably start crying midway through the song. Um. I'll try and remember to send them to you. And I've decided not to question why you would find the need to lie.

_BunnyofDOOM: _(You love it. Admit it.) You worry too much about everything! I'm sure you'll be fine, so long as you don't suddenly start talking about, I don't know, necrophilia. If you start crying midway through, post the video anyway, 'cause your voice will probably go really high pitched and I wanna know just how much it can without, ah, spending the night. If you know what I mean, ha ha ha!

_Tuna-Fish: _(I admit that I'm slightly flattered. Slightly.) Why would I talk about necrophilia? And no, I don't know what you mean. Unless your planning on making me watch a scary movie. Please don't. Last time I watched one I had insomnia for a whole week, though my grades did improve a bit.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Oh my god. You don't know . . . You do realize what this means, right? You not knowing and being flattered and pure, you adorable puffin, you?

_Tuna-Fish: _What? Did you just call me a puffin?

_BunnyofDOOM: _It means that once I find out who you are, I am totally going to be barging into your bedroom. And I'm gonna rock your world, baby. -wink wink, nudge nudge- I'll be your teacher, I'll show you the ropes. You'll see a side of love you've never known- I can see it going down!~*

_Tuna-Fish: _What the heck?

_BunnyofDOOM: _Ha ha ha ha! Sorry Tuna, I couldn't help it after I found out how innocent you are (then again, not speaking to other people your age must do that). I was just teasing you. I'll explain it all. One day.

_Tuna-Fish: _I'm pretty sure I know what you're talking about . . .

_Mr. Extreme: _YOUR CONVERSATION IS CONFUSING ME TOO! THOUGH I REMEMBER THAT SONG, IT PLAYED ON THE RADIO A LOT.

_Tuna-Fish: _Caps button, again.

_Mr. Extreme: _Oops. Anyway good luck with your homework!

_Cloud: _Bunny herbivore, cease making your foul innuendos on this blog. Or you will find that you won't be able to soon.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Problem, officer? It's been awhile since you've last threatened me, am I losing my touch?

_Cloud: _I shall find you. Once I do you will regret many things.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Stalker. Tuna-Fish, you have a perverted stalker reading your blog.

_Cloud: _Fish herbivore, I suggest you block out the perverted stalking bunny herbivore immediately. And bunny trash, I will find you and bite you to death.

_Tuna-Fish: _Guys, no fighting. I don't want my blog to be full of death threats, or anything illegal. Last time you guys went on and on about the _Russian mafia_.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Fine, fine. See ya later, Tuna-Fish, Cloud!~

_Cloud: _Hn.

_Tuna-Fish:_ You two . . .

* * *

**Author's Note:**

*_Long Bakery_. Since I am the most uncreative person with names, I just went for the Chinese word for dragon.

* _I'll be your teacher, I'll show you the ropes. You'll see a side of love you've never known- I can see it going down._ These are the lyrics of the song In My Head by Jason Derulo.


	5. New Refrains

**Author's Note:** Special thanks to Lya3, who helped me with the Primo Problem (as I have started to call it). Maybe, just maybe, they will play a larger role than a brief mention now. Thanks to everyone that reviewed. Next chapter might take awhile, because life has been getting busier lately.

**IMPORTANT:** I have assigned real life bands for Peregrine Blues' bands. If they have original songs done by the anime (for example; Mukuro and Hibari's duet of Sakura Addiction) they will still do it. It's all part of a non-existent plan of mine. Now, for the band assignments!

**Varia** **-** _Green Day_  
**Decimo -** _OneRepublic_  
**Shimon** **-** _Anberlin_

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Implications of bullying and actual bullying in later chapters. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Four:****  
New Refrains  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_''. . . the Feel Good Drag, maybe,''  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"_These thought run through my head, over and over!_"* Enma's voice was full of emotion as he sang. Tsuna listened intently as they played their debut song. He noted that Enma's voice was surprisingly strong as the music took a harsher turn as the band slid over to the chorus. "_Complaints of violins, become my only friends,_"

Adelheid was going a bit faster than the rest of the band, setting a pace that was hard for the other guitarist, Kaoru, to keep up with. Julie, the bassist, was playing a touch too slow when compared to the rest of the band. "_I thought you said forever, over and over!_" Koyo was fine, it seemed. But he sometimes missed a note, and that caused the whole song to sound a bit disjointed to Tsuna.

"_These thoughts run through my head,_" Enma sounded fairly good, however, he needed to raise his voice a bit more to be heard clearly.

But overall, they were good. Who was he kidding, they were brilliant compared to the people he heard on the radio- at least lyrics wise. Tsuna was still amazed that he had landed the chance to listen to _Shimon_, of all bands, in their freaking garage too. Tsuna was helping a semi-popular band rise to fame, and that in itself was pretty cool. Even after two weeks, Tsuna couldn't really believe that this was happening to him of all people. Maybe his luck was getting better?

"That was great!" Tsuna exclaimed once they finished the song, Shitt P. and Rauji were also clapping, quite happy with the performance. It was already six in the evening, and they had started band practice at four. They were dedicated, which was good. "Now, I did notice some points you could still improve on." They nodded, waiting for his verdict. They had been following this routine for the last few times that Tsuna had been over (which surprised Tsuna the most- they seemed to genuinely want his advice).

"Adelheid-san, you're still going a bit too fast for the others to keep up with. I suggest that you slow down your pace- try and keep Kaoru-san's pace, alright? Maybe you two can practice in your free time?" Adelheid glared at him a bit, but nonetheless gave Kaoru a look that said he won't be able to leave for awhile more. He gave them a reassuring and slightly nervous smile as he went on.

"Koyo-san, you missed a few notes. If it's memorizing the notes that's the problem, the only thing I can suggest is to practice as much as possible, that way if you can't remember, maybe your muscles can." Tsuna said quietly, eyebrows furrowing a bit in disappointment with his meager advice for the older boy. He sighed, rubbing the purple bruise on his arm hidden beneath his sleeve self-consciously.

"Ah, Julie-san, you're playing a bit too slow." Tsuna paused, glancing at the aforementioned teen. Julie still had that strange, somewhat fox-like smile on his face, even as his eyes were focused intently on Tsuna, silently urging him to continue. "Again, the only thing I can say is to practice more. While you're practicing, maybe you can slowly play faster, that way you''ll get used to playing that fast?" _Did that make sense?_

"Sure thing!" Julie said cheerfully, ruining the serious mood. Tsuna resisted the urge to face palm when, just like that, the Shimon band started to disperse and pack up the equipment. Well, practice was over.

They were a dysfunctional group, with their loud arguments and small fights that were forgiven in seconds, Tsuna mused. It made him happy that he was (sort of) a part of a large group like this. Tsuna smiled, stretching an arm above him as he used his other hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. Reborn had been barging into his room more often to 'tutor' him. It made him a lot more paranoid, and a lot more sleepy.

"Here," something the smooth and cold was pressed against his temple, causing to Tsuna yelp loudly and tried to jump away. He stepped on his own shoelace, though, and ended up falling to the floor from his perch on the beaten up couch's arm rest. He groaned from the ground, turning over onto his back to see who had surprised him. Shitt P. was standing over him, a glass of water held in her hand, and the artificial light coming from the lamp above their heads was glinting off her . . . ring things that surrounded her body. Where did she get that?

"T-thanks, Shitopi-chan." Tsuna mumbled as he took the glass. He felt uncomfortable calling her by something so informal, but it was the only name that the eccentric girl would respond too. She left with a nod, going to where Adelheid stood trying to punch Julie (they hadn't even looked up when he yelled. Guess they were getting used to him.). He took a sip, relishing the cool water as he watched the crowd laze about and unwind. He sat back down on the couch, relaxing now that no one was watching him.

"Hey," Enma said as he took the seat next to Tsuna.

Tsuna gave him a grin, "Hey yourself. How's the song writing going?" Enma grimaced, an unhappy look in his red eyes. "I'll take that as 'badly' . . ." Tsuna muttered, mostly to himself. They needed new songs before the public's interest on Shimon was lost, otherwise they would fade into obscurity again. (_Man,_ Tsuna thought, _I need to stop reading those book Bunny suggested._) "Did you write anything so far, at least?"

"Just this," Enma muttered, bringing out a battered notebook from the bag by his feet. He flipped through the book before finally stopping on one page filled with bright red and blue ink. It looked like Enma had written it at first with blue, but went over and changed some things on a later date with a red pen.

"Let's see then." Tsun said, taking the book from Enma's tight grip gently. He set it down carefully on his knee before reading the messy scrawl, ignoring the words that were crossed out.

_To feel hurt_  
_To feel lost_  
_To be left out in the dark_  
_To be kicked when you're down_  
_To feel like you've been pushed around_  
_To be on the edge of breaking down_  
_Do you want to be somebody else?_  
_Are you sick of feeling so left out?_  
_Are you desperate to find something more_  
_Before your life is over?_*

Tsuna raised an eyebrow. It wasn't that bad, to be honest. It was just . . . missing something. "I know," Enma sighed quietly next to him. Tsuna jumped, unaware that he had been thinking aloud.

"What are you two whispering about?" Tsuna jumped a bit, looking over his shoulder to see Julie leaning over the back of the couch.

"Songwriting," Tsuna responded shyly, still unsure with himself around the rest of the band. He handed the notebook to Julie on a whim, "What do you think?" Tsuna asked, hoping that Julie might be able to help.

In Tsuna's opinion, to write songs you needed life experiences to make them. You couldn't just make them randomly and expect it to become a instant hit. They required feeling and passion, and experiencing things helped a lot in that area. That was why there were so many songs about heartbreak and love. To Tsuna, Julie was outgoing and would most likely be able to help Enma, if only a little bit. Still, he felt a bit guilty to just hand the notebook to Julie, since Enma was just as self-conscious as he was.

Julie hummed, looking over the lyrics that Enma had written so far intently. A few moments passed before he handed it back to Tsuna, rubbing his chin in thought. "It's not bad," he said at last. "If we play it in a, uh, smoother way than Paperthin Hymn."

Tsuna nodded slowly, "A more uplifting sort of tone to the song could make it work, definitely." Tsuna responded, giving the notebook to Enma. "Now you just have to finish the song." He said with a smile, painfully aware that Julie was still standing behind him.

"Speaking of songs!" Julie said loudly, drawing back the two scrawny boys' attention. "I wanted you two to look over a song that I wrote. I was thinking that we could add it to the album that we're making if it's good enough." He said as he fished out some paper from his pocket. Julie gave it to them, waiting impatiently for them to finish going over the song.

Tsuna himself was staring at the paper in front of him once he finished with amazement. He was right about Julie, it seemed. Tsuna looked up at the taller boy, who was adjusting his hat as he waited, before looking back at Enma. Enma finished reading it moments later and glanced up to meet Tsuna's eyes with an excited expression. "You think you can sing it?" Tsuna asked, leaning in to not be overheard by Julie. Enma nodded determinedly, and the two boys shared a grin before looking up at the playboy with uncannily similar, toothy grins.

"Well?" Julie asked.

"So what were you going to call this song?" Tsuna inquired, ignoring the question.

Julie huffed in irritation before answering. "Dunno- the Feel Good Drag*, maybe," he said as he leaned on the back of the couch. He raised an eyebrow, still waiting for the answer to his question. Tsuna gave him another grin, then stood up in one fluid motion.

"Everyone! We've got a new song." Tsuna called out, his voice echoing slightly in the room. "Let's start practice, yeah?"

By the time that Tsuna came back home, the sun was already gone, and he was late for dinner. Despite the look that Reborn gave him, his mood didn't damper. Enma was coming over in a few days to work on some songs, he had gotten Enma's email (Who would have thought that they actually knew each other online already?), and Tsuna had finally gotten Shimon to trust him- sort of.

The wide grin wouldn't come off his face for days.

- X -  
_**  
BunnyofDOOM**_**'s Blog**  
Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**Every song you make, every line you say, I'll be watching you**_  
**The blog of a girl that hunts for good music** **in a sea of mainstream.**

_March 10th, 20XX at 10:30 PM_

Heey!

So, I haven't posted much for some time, but I have a reason, I swear. If you count  
stalking a certain someone (I see you, Tuna-Fish) as a reason, then you my man, are my  
best friend. But aside from stalking, I was also busy with real life.

Yes, I do have a life, thank you.

Just this morning I had a unit test for science. And I freaking nailed it. NOW WHAT?

-cough cough-

Anyway, let's get down to business then, since I promised that in my next post I would  
actually give a list of new bands that I found had some potential. There's a lot that I had  
to research, because I only heard of them in passing and I couldn't be sure if they weren't  
just figments of my imaginations or some such nonsense.

So! First band; Varia.

They've got some fucking hot eye candy, they've got rage, they've got the mystery to  
them, and their lead singer has the sexiest voice I've heard in a while. Now, does anyone  
actually know where these people came from? No? Then I suppose I'll have to hold a history  
lesson!

The Varia virtually came from nowhere. There's no information on them before they released  
their singles 'Flaming Rage' and the slightly mellower 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'*. That's  
right. They appeared like ninjas. There has been rumors that the smexy lead singer (slash  
pianist) of the band who goes by the stage name XanXus is actually the son of the Vongola's  
(the record company that the band is signed up with) chairman, Timoteo Rossi. However, no  
one knows if this is true, so for now it shall remain just a rumor.

Currently they are on a hiatus. Their manager, Levi A. Than, has stated that they will return  
make a return soon. (You can totally tell that I like this band, lol.)

Next! Juan Direction. The Juan is pronounced _wahn_, by the way.

Funnily enough, this band isn't Spanish. But that doesn't change the fact that their debut  
album has topped the charts on Billboard. Girls, eat your hearts out, this all boy band are  
sweeping ladies off their feet all over the world with their songs 'Gotta Be You'* and 'What  
Makes You Beautiful'*. And their lookers, from what I hear.

Another band that I want to mention is the new band, Decimo.

This band is huge. Five people form the main band, while a sixth takes over either the  
bass or guitar (depending on whose singing). It sounds complicated, but it isn't that hard.  
Maybe I just suck at explaining.

Anyway! This band- again, an all guy band, ladies- has two lead singers, Mukuro and Hibari.  
(So far no one knows if those names are their actual ones) These two switch, and when  
they aren't singing, they're playing the bass and the guitar, respectively. Lambo, the sixth  
member of Decimo, takes up the instrument of whoever is singing, though in one cover the  
band did, he take over the piano, when Hayato (often called Smokin' Hurricane by fans)  
was absent.

Though they have done various covers showcasing their talent (from rock, to soul, to  
alternative, they've done it all), they have only one original song. 'Secrets'* which is sung  
by Mukuro (who also used the tambourine). Lambo took a part in this one, playing the cello.  
Mind you, the fans demanded a version done by Hibari, which they released two weeks after.  
To be fair, those two both have _amazing _voices. No wonder they have so many fan(girl)s.

Despite being relatively new to the scene, they've done many songs and have amassed a  
large amount of fans. Also, there has been whispers about the record company Vongola  
possibly offering a contract. Personally, I just think that Vongola is keeping an eye on them  
for now. Once Decimo starts doing more original songs, they'll probably get a lot of contract  
offers.

While this band isn't new, I feel that they deserve a mention.

Shimon is a band that is commonly ignored by the media in favour of other, bigger bands,  
despite having done just as many covers, maybe even more, as Decimo. It seems that no  
record company has approached them so far.

Shimon has one stand out single called Paperthin Hymn, and on their website have mentioned  
that in between small time gigs they are making their own album.

Recently, they have posted previews of two songs from the yet to be released album on their  
website. 'The Feel Good Drag' has gotten many positive reviews from my friends, and is much  
anticipated by their small fan base. The other song is 'Welcome to My Life'*, in which it actually  
features an unknown artist singing alongside Shimon's lead singer, Enma. When asked (in the  
comments) about the mysterious singer, the band simply said that Yoshi (as they had taken to  
calling him) was not in the music industry and is apparently just a friend that is helping them  
create their album, who also has no desire to join any bands or strike out as an artist.

('Yoshi's' singing sounds suspiciously like someone I know.)

Aside from Yoshi and Enma, and a few more bad boys for the girls, this band has more variety  
to them! There's also a two girls for guy drool over- Suzuki and Shitopi-chan. Although  
Shitopi-chan only stars in a few covers to play the keyboard.

Well! That's a wrap. (Ha, I haven't said that in, like, _months_.) If you want to look at the website  
of any of the bands I talked about, use Google.

. . . .

Oh, I'm just kidding! Here (remove the spaces):

_ www. varia. com_  
_ www. decimo. net_  
_shimon. com  
__ www. juandirection. com_  


Now, I'm going to bug my friends!

**Mood:** Bored  
**Tags: **_music_

_See previous posts_

Leave a comment [59]

- X -

I'm not including the comments, but maybe next time I do Bunny's blog I will. (Ha ha ha, have you noticed whose number that is? In the comments thingy?)

* '_These thought run through my head, over and over! I thought you said forever, over and over!_ _These thoughts run through my head._' Lyrics from the song Paperthin Hymn by Anberlin.

* '_To be hurt . . . life is over._' Lyrics from the song Welcome to My Life by Simple Plan. The lyrics are slightly edited for the purpose of this story.

**Song list in this chapter ****(**because there were so many mentioned that I decided I need a sections just for it**):**  
_**KEY:**__ Song Name_ by Original Band. **Band in Peregrine Blues that performed the song.**

_The Feel Good Drag_ by Anberlin. **Band - Shimon.**  
_Flaming Rage_ by Xanxus (Er, it's his theme song). **Band - Varia.**  
_Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ by Green Day. **Band - Varia.**  
_Gotta Be You_ and _What Makes You Beautiful_ by One Direction. **Band - Juan Direction.**  
_Secrets_ by One Republic. **Band - Decimo.**  
_Welcome to My Life_ by Simple Plan. **Band - Shimon, featuring 'Yoshi' (Sawada Tsunayoshi).**


	6. School is Full of Surprises

**Author's Note:** Hi everybody! So yeah. I managed to finish chapter five sooner than I thought. But wow, I managed to gather all the 'dame' people in one place/chat room _again_. Just noticed that. Anyway, I want to just put it out there that song recommendations are welcomed, however, not all will be used. Bullying in this chapter, and we get a glimpse as to what Tsuna's school life is like.

**THE PAIRING OF THIS STORY IS NOT TSUNAxKYOKO.** Just saying.

Reborn may make his proposition soon. I don't know for sure, because Reborn only listens to himself. Even when he's a fictional character. (A badass one, mind you.)

Oh, and I made a mistake in that last chapter. Bunny's blog post was supposed to be in April. (WOOH, a whole month has passed in Peregrine Blues now.) Long author's note, sorry.

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Implications of bullying and actual bullying. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Five:****  
School is Full of Surprises  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'. . . Moe was going all macho . . .'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

It had been two weeks since he had taken Scorpion Ai's advice to heart. Frankly, Tsuna had no clue if he was getting anywhere.

Whenever Tsuna gave him a new bento box the taller boy would give him this _look_. Everyday for those two weeks he had given OctoHead a bento box without looking at him in the eyes and took back the previous- emptied and clean- box he had used for OctoHead's lunch.

They hadn't exchanged a single word about the transaction since the first day, when Octo- _Gokudera_, Tsuna told himself firmly- questioned Tsuna ("What the fuck?) and Tsuna had stuttered out a sorry excuse ("I-I- ohgod- uh, lunch?"), and then today, on the tenth day.

(- _OctoHead stared at the piece of paper he had picked up on the floor, ignoring Tsuna as he frantically picked up all the papers he had dropped onto the floor. It was lunch time and Tsuna had plans to hide up on the roof with his lunch and test results to sulk as usual. It was just his luck that he had to literally run into OctoHead when he was escaping from Mochida's group of friends; Mochida especially because he had this strange look on his face. _

_"I-I'm so sorry, really, I didn't mean to-" Tsuna stopped his ramblings to pick up a few more pieces of paper that had landed a bit farther away. He stood up and turned to OctoHead, expecting a scowl at most. OctoHead had stopped glaring at him as much, but then again, Tsuna had been practically feeding him for nine days, ten when lunch was over (he had counted). Never bite the hand that feeds you and all. _

_However, all he got was an uncertain and more than irritated look from the silver-head._

_"This," OctoHead snapped out, shaking a paper at Tsuna face- it was his math test. The one that his teacher had given just that day and had decided to praise Tsuna about. In front of his whole class. A big fat '_69_' was scribbled in the top right corner. _Yes, sensei, I definitely improved from the beginning of the year, _Tsuna thought bitterly. Honestly, even his teachers were out for his blood._

_"What the hell is this?" OctoHead continued, spitting. Tsuna blinked, a bit annoyed at the other boy's attitude, but far to afraid to do anything about it._

_"My test score?"_

_OctoHead snorted, surveying him with narrowed eyes. They stood like that for a few more minutes, ignoring the students walking around them like they were just decorations. Finally, "Idiot." _

_Tsuna blinked,watching as OctoHead scribbled something on his test paper. Vandalizing his things wasn't new, but doing it in front of him was a bit . . . off putting._

_"Be at this place at four tomorrow and I'll tutor you."_

What? _Tsuna almost asked. But he didn't, mostly because he was in the process of gaping like a fish at OctoHead. The other boy seemed to have quite enough of his gawping, and shoved the paper into his hands before walking away with his hands in his pocket and a scowl back on his face._

_"Think of it as a thanks," he called over his shoulder, leaving Tsuna standing in the middle of the hallway thinking _what the fuck just happened? _because, really-_)

"This is delicious, Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko exclaimed, breaking him out of his reminiscing. She took another bite of the cake that Tsuna had made with relish. Tsuna gave her a shy smile, peering at her through his lashes. He took a bite of his own slice of the chocolate cake, noticing that it was a bit sweeter than he had intended. Hana walked into the Home Economic room that moment, returning from the office with an almost characteristic scowl on her face.

"Stupid monkeys," she muttered as she took her seat at the round table. Tsuna raised an eyebrow at her, knowing it was better not to ask. Hana scowled harder when she caught his look, but took a slice of cake and began eating.

He sat as far away from the two girls as possible, well aware of the jealous and angry glares the other boys in his home economics class were giving him. He jumped whenever the two girls reached towards him, always checking behind him to see what the other boys were going to do if he slipped up and (_god forbid_, Tsuna thought sarcastically) talked to the school idol Sasagawa Kyoko and her best friend Kurokawa Hana.

It wasn't his fault that the teacher had placed him at the same table as the two girls, honestly. And it wasn't like he hated working with them in cooking class, but it would have been more enjoyable if the other guys (who Tsuna was sure had joined the class to be closer to Kyoko) would stop staring/glaring at them so intently.

Maybe it would have been more enjoyable if Kyoko wasn't his crush. Because then he would be able to not talk, not chat, but _converse_ with the girl. He would be able to to get to know her, and the two of them would slowly fall in love like all those cliche dramas that his mother watched- _shut up now, brain_, Tsuna commanded, stabbing viciously at his slice of cake unseeingly.

_Why did my crush have to be Kyoko? _Tsuna asked himself as he continued to savagely tear apart his cake with his fork. It would have been so much easier if his crush had been a slightly plain, but relatively cute girl that wasn't so hard to approach. Someone that he stood a chance with. But then love was never easy, was it? Not that it was love. Not yet, at least- now wasn't that a wonder? Nearly three years he's had a crush on Kyoko, but not once did it ever venture outside that childish infatuation.

"Dame-Tsuna!" Tsuna started, fumbling with his fork as it dive bombed to the floor. He looked up through his bangs once he finally had a handle on the fork to see Hana standing above him. Her eyebrow was creeping up her forehead and her lips were quirked upwards in amusement.

"It's time to clean up- everyone else has already left." True to her word, the whole class except for him, Kyoko and Hana had cleared out. Even the teacher had left.

"S-sorry," he mumbled, standing up with enough force to knock over his chair. He let out a quiet groan before bending over to fix it. When he looked up again, Hana had already joined Kyoko at the sink, cleaning the few dishes that they used. Tsuna quickly shuffled over, dumping up the demolished cake slice into the bin and then placing his plate next to the sink.

"Here, put these away," Hana told him as he sidled up next to her. He nodded and began to put away the dishes she hand him. They continued on in silence for a few more minutes, all moving wordlessly around each other with ease.

"_Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds,_*" lyrics suddenly blared through the classroom as Tsuna was reaching up to put away a plate. He looked around for the source of the noise as it continued to play. "_She made a fool out of you, and, boy, she's bringing you down,_" Hana hissed, finally jumping into action. Throwing the dish towel she had been using onto the counter, she dug into her skirt pocket.

"_She made your heart melt, but you're cold to the core,_" when she finally took out her shiny phone (_Is that a Blackberry?_) and checked the ID of the caller, she snorted loudly. Tsuna blinked in confusion as Hana shoved the phone back into her pocket and proceeded to ignore it. "_Now rumor has it she ain't got your love anymore,_"

"Who is it?" Kyoko asked, curious.

"_Rumor has it! Rumor has it!_"

"Your brother," Hana replied, scowl deepening as she picked up the dish towel, only to throw it into the basket full of used towels. "How did he get my number?" She snapped, ripping off her apron. Kyoko and Tsuna both tottered after her, fixing the chair and table that Hana displaced in her rage. Tsuna stayed behind as the two made for the door, gathering his things calmly.

"Where are you going?" Kyoko asked, half-running to keep up with Hana's longer strides. Hana paused in the doorway to let her friend catch up before answering.

"To beat the answer out of your brother."

How did those two become friends again?

- X -  
_**  
**__**- Tuna-Fish has joined the chatroom -**_

**Tuna-Fish: **Hey.

**Bucking Bronco: **Hey, Tuna!

**Tuna-Fish: **Has Flame logged on yet?

**Bucking Bronco: **Nope, not yet.

**Tuna-Fish: **Huh, usually I'm the last to join the conversation.

**Bucking Bronco: **I'm sure Flame'll come soon.

**Tuna-Fish**: You're right. Hey, can I ask you for some advice?

**Bucking Bronco: **Sure! I'll try to answer as best as I can.

**Tuna-Fish: **Well, there's this guy.

**Bucking Bronco: **Love troubles? You've come to the right person! Italians are good at this stuff

**Bucking Bronco: **at least everyone I know is.

**Tuna-Fish: **What? No! Not that!

**Tuna-Fish: **Let me finish first!

**Bucking Bronco: **Eh heh heh, sorry. I'll wait then.

**Tuna-Fish: **ANYWAY

_**- True-Flame has joined the chatroom -**_

**Tuna-Fish: **This guy- let's call him Moe- is a bully. In fact, he's been my bully since first year of middle school, and I'm in high school now. Two weeks ago, he suddenly stopped bullying me, but his friends kept teasing me while he just stood in the background with this weird expression. And then this afternoon, when I was heading home he sort of cornered me.

**Bucking Bronco: **He didn't beat you up, did he?

**Tuna-Fish: **The opposite, actually. I was backed up against this wall with three upper class men- Dumb 123- threatening me, and then woosh! Moe rounds the corner and everyone is just staring at each other like it was a freaking western showdown (except instead of guns Moe had a kendo sword and Dumb 123 had only their fists and ugly mugs) and I was the damsel in distress

**Tuna-Fish: **and then Moe was like 'get away from him,' and then Dumb 1 was like 'why should we'. By then I was just cowering against the wall as usual and I was really confused because next thing I know they're all fighting and, god, Moe was winning against all three of them with just his fucking kendo stick.

**Tuna-Fish: **Then Dumb 123 were on the ground and Moe was going all macho and saying 'Now scram,' and they _ran_.

**Bucking Bronco: **Well, what's wrong with that? (Whoa, you swore.)

**Tuna-Fish: **I'm not finished.

**Bucking Bronco: **Oh.

**Tuna-Fish: **Moe turned around to me after Dumb 123 had ran away, and he had this seriously pissed off look on his face. I was thinking 'oh god, I'm going to die' but NO. This day is jumping from one unexpected thing to another and shit, it's like whoever is up there decided that I don't deserve a perfectly, normal, boring life, because now I don't know where the hell my life is going anymore. But I'm getting sidetracked.

**Tuna-Fish: **Moe's face softened, so I think he must have noticed how terrified I was, which isn't hard because people tell me that I'm like an open book. Then he just put his wooden sword on the floor next to him and put his hands in front of him in that universal 'I-don't-mean-harm' way. I must have calmed down a lot after that, because he started asking me if I was okay and all.

**Bucking Bronco: **Are you?

**Tuna-Fish: **Yeah, cause of Moe I didn't even get hit once. But that's not the point!

**Bucking Bronco: **Sorry

**Tuna-Fish: **So I told Moe I was fine, and then I tried to run home, but Moe was like 'wait! I want to talk to you,'. I was looking at him all suspicious, but then again he saved me from a hell of a lot of pain, so I stayed and he started talking.

**True-Flame: **What did he say?

**Bucking Bronco: **What?

**Tuna-Fish: **Wait, when did you log on?

**True-Flame: **Around the start, doesn't really matter. What did Moe say?

**Bucking Bronco: **I want to know too!

**Tuna-Fish: **Well, he said he was sorry.

**Bucking Bronco: **What?

**True-Flame: **Maybe you should be more specific?

**Tuna-Fish:** Okay, so this is what he said to me EXACTLY. "I'm sorry." and the I was like "what?" because he said it really quietly. Moe gave me that strange look that he had been giving me the whole week and then said "I said I was sorry, for everything." And I'm like 'Lol, wut?' No seriously, I laughed thinking he was joking and but then I stopped when I realized he was _totally serious about it_.

**Bucking Bronco: **I'm surprised he didn't yell at you for laughing at him.

**True-Flame: **That was a bit . . . mean, Tuna.

**Tuna-Fish: **I didn't think he was serious! It wouldn't have been the first time that someone apologized to me and then laughed at me saying that they were only joking, okay? So anyway! I stopped when I realized he was serious, and then I was really confused. I was like "What are you apologizing for?" and he gave me this frustrated look. Then it sort of went into movie mode, and I swear he must have had a script hidden somewhere, because he told me "For bullying you. For insulting you and spreading rumors about you and even beating you up that one time in middle school- our first year, right after classes ended for the day, the week before summer break."

**Tuna-Fish: **"Yes, I remember that." And I was pretty surprised that he remembered it, because I only remember it hurting, not even the date or anything else. Usually bullies just forget everything that they did to you the month before, so I was like "Wha?" to him. But then I sort of snapped at him, because he was apologizing for helping make my life seem like hell until recently.

**Tuna-Fish: **So I said "Why the heck are you saying sorry now? After all these years?" Moe had this really flustered expression on, and he didn't answer for a few moments. He told me that "Someone had beat some sense into him a few weeks ago," but I was still so freaking angry at him, and I didn't think that I could say anything that would make sense because I was also so angry at myself for being so pathetically accepting and unhappy for Moe, because I couldn't help but think how prideful he always is, and how hard for him it must have been to actually stop me from running to say that.

**Tuna-Fish:** But another part of my mind was screaming that he didn't have to know that I was _this _close to forgiving him and I sort of hate that part of myself more than I hate being so accepting of everything. But that small part of me was saying why should I forgive him, when he had just stood by while his friends bullied me when he had 'gotten some sense into him' weeks ago.

**Tuna-Fish: **Turns out I said it aloud, because Moe flinched, and told me that he didn't know what to do when he 'realized his mistakes', and he was really sorry for everything. I didn't know what to say to that, and Moe might have said more, but I had blanked out by then and the two voices in my head were warring against each other. But then I didn't have to say anything after all, because Mr Prefect- I've talked about him before right?- came out from nowhere and asked us what the hell was going on, but not in so many words.

**Tuna-Fish: **While Moe was answering Mr Prefect, I ran like the god damn wuss I am. I think they might have started fighting, but I don't know for sure because I didn't dare look back.

**Bucking Bronco:** . . . You haven't ranted on a long while, have you?

_**- True-Flame has opened up a private conversation with you -**_

**True-Flame: **Tsuna?

**Tuna-Fish: **Yeah?

**True-Flame: **I'm coming over.

**Tuna-Fish: **Wait, you don't have to!

**True-Flame: **I'm coming over right now, Tsuna. And either I climb in through your window, or Mama opens the door for me. I'll be there in fifteen minutes either way.

**- True-Flame has closed the private conversation -**

**Tuna-Fish: **Well, I don't have many people to rant to, to be honest.

**True-Flame: **Sorry guys, I have to go. See you later.

_**- True-Flame has signed off -**_

**Bucking Bronco: **THat was strange.

**Luss-nee: **Oh, wow, hun! That's one story- even better than my dramas!

**Bucking Bronco: **Oh, god.

**Tuna-Fish: **WAIT, WHO ARE YOU? (Bronco, do you know Luss-nee?)

**Tuna-Fish: **How long were you here?

**Luss-nee: **I was here before you joined, hun! But enough of that, you haven't told us why you needed our advice yet!

**Bucking Bronco: **Luss is right. (Um, yeah. Long story.)

**Tuna-Fish: **Well . . . This might sound really stupid, but should I forgive him? As in actually go up to him and tell him that he's forgiven, or just avoid him? (because I think I sort of already have. Forgiven him, that is.)

**Bucking Bronco: **That's . . . that's a hard question Tuna. I would have just given him an earful, but that's just me. Your personality is . . . completely different to what I'm used to. I don't know what to tell you.

**Tuna-Fish: **Ah, well, thanks for hearing me out, then.

**Luss-nee: **Dear, I think you should be thinking differently. I know my life would have been a lot different if I had thought about this one little thing. Tell me, is it ever too late to apologize?

**Luss-nee: **Hun?

**Bucking Bronco: **Tuna? Are you still there?

**Bucking Bronco: **Tuna-Fish?

**Tuna-Fish: **sorry, I need to go.

**Bucking Bronco: **Luss, you scared him off!

_**- Tuna-Fish has signed off -**_

* * *

* _Bless your soul, you've got your head in the clouds . . ._Lyrics of the song Rumor Has It, by Adele.

There you go. Tsuna pouring his heart out online.


	7. Karaoke Night

**Author's Note:** Hey, everyone. I'm done with exams, so I finally was able to finish this chapter.

Anyway, a lot of people have asked or mentioned about pairings. I didn't mention any pairing in the summary because I was afraid some people wouldn't read it because it doesn't have the pairing they like, or something along those lines. I still am, to be honest. But since no one reads author's notes, I'll just say it. There is no pairing in this story _for now_. I don't really know how to write romance. To those who do read my author's notes, thank you, and you deserve to know.

Thank you to Exile Wrath for the song suggestion (which you shall find I have used) and to Misaki19 for the band suggestion (which I will most likely use in a later chapter). Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed (especially ReaperofDarkness, who pointed something out for me- the videos only show Tsuna neck down, by the way. Bunny just saw how small Tsuna was compared to his guitar). Long author's note again, sorry.

**Author:** Completely Sane.

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

Poor Tsuna.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Implications of bullying and actual bullying. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Six:****  
Karaoke Night  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_''Not pet, partner.''  
_

~ ' * ' ~

Enma stayed that Friday night, having thought ahead and brought some sleepwear and other things to Tsuna's house. He stood firm in his decision, and no amount of persuading or vaguely horrifying stories of Reborn could change his mind. Tsuna could tell that the boy was scared of Reborn (maybe he shouldn't have told him the story of Reborn shooting at him for his last math test's results), but Enma had that stubborn face on again- though the trembling and jumpiness sort of detracted from that image.

_Is this what friends are like? _Tsuna wondered as Enma greeted his mother for the first time with a clumsy sort of charm, tripping on the living room rug as he took a step back after shaking her hand. The last time Enma had come over, Nana had been out with her friends and couldn't meet him, which seemed to have made her rather upset.

"Come sit down! Dinner's ready-" Nana started as she showed them into the dining room before being cut off by the sound of the door banging open. Reborn was back, then, and Tsuna had the insane urge to hide Enma in his closet until he could sneak Enma out of the house without Reborn knowing- which would be miraculous in and of itself, because Reborn never missed anything. Literally and metaphorically.

"Mama," he could still do it- _nope, as soon as Reborn was in walking distance of the house you put a target on Enma's back, _damn you brain, "I'm back." Reborn's cultured voice snaked its way into the dining room, the owner of it following moments later. Reborn was in a suit yet again, but there was a new addition to his usual outfit. A small green blob was sitting on his shoulder, and Tsuna wondered for a moment if it was radioactive bird crap before he decided that he really should stop reading comics (which were just as bad as Bunny's books). At least for awhile.

"Reborn, you're back early!" Nana exclaimed, going over to give him a quick hug. Tsuna noticed that Reborn didn't hug her back, only patting her softly on her arm. Nana pulled back, grinning brightly as she introduced Enma. Reborn had a glint in his onyx eyes, but Tsuna didn't know what it could have meant. Reborn pinned his gaze on Enma as Nana drifted off into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder for them to sit down.

They took their places at the old, wooden table. Tsuna took his usual seat at the corner of the table farthest from the seat his father would sit at (if he was there)- where Reborn now sat, with Enma sitting down next to him after a moment's hesitation. There was a moment of awkward silence, with Tsuna fiddling with his place mat, Reborn staring and Enma growing increasingly nervous. Reborn's trademark smirk appeared on his face again, the same time that Tsuna caught Enma starting to squirm uncomfortably in his seat in the corner of his eyes..

Was Reborn trying to _haze _Enma? Tsuna wanted face palm at the stupidity. Only Reborn would do that to someone he just met without a good reason.

Tsuna sighed, deciding to ignore the two lest he got a headache thinking so hard about doing something but never doing it. Tsuna let his gaze drift, not willing to break the slightly tense quiet that had filled the air. His brown eyes traced the beige walls, flickering over each family picture that Nana had hung up. The dining room was a bit sparse, really. But then Tsuna and his mother never used the dining room often, only when there was guests or they couldn't all fit in the kitchen. Not even Reborn had changed that, as he had usually just joined them at the tiny round table in the kitchen. Actually, Tsuna was pretty sure that Nana had plans to get rid of the dining room to make the living room bigger. She was already saving up for it.

The green blob moved that moment, catching Tsuna's attention. Tsuna stared at it curiously, and it stared back at him with big yellow eyes- holy shit, it was _alive_.

"Reborn, what's that?" Tsuna blurted out, blinking in time with the blobby thing that seemed to be growing longer and skinnier. Reborn raised an eyebrow at him, before deciding to humor him.

"His name is Leon." Reborn told him, a smirk playing on his lips. Tsuna hummed at the not-answer, watching as the blob uncurled itself to reveal it was not, in fact, a blob, but an incredibly green lizard. Or maybe a chameleon, Tsuna couldn't tell the difference between them (until one disappeared before his eyes, that is). Leon stretched on Reborn's shoulder, staring at his surroundings in almost human-like fascination.

Then again with Reborn, Tsuna wouldn't be surprised if his pet was capable of understanding speech or something.

"Not pet, partner." Tsuna wasn't surprised that Reborn read his mind either, he had gotten used to it awhile ago. "Maybe I should put more effort into unsettling you then." No, no thank you.

"Um," Enma started, glancing back and forth between Tsuna and Reborn, wondering about the one-sided conversation. Tsuna gave him a wry smile, debating whether to tell him to ignore Reborn and risk being shot at (or more tutoring- _god no_), or just leaving him to Reborn's mercy. If Enma was going to come over more often he would have to get used to Reborn (Tsuna had long ago given up the notion that Reborn would leave some day soon, because with Reborn being unpredictable wasn't even predictable anymore).

Tsuna didn't have to decide, thankfully, because Nana came in carrying their dinner for the night; pasta, garlic bread and some fried vegetables. How she carried all of it without looking like she was struggling, Tsuna would never know.

"Let's eat then!" Nana exclaimed as she put all the food down onto the table. The table creaked slightly at the new, sudden weight, but Tsuna ignored it because it was normal and started helping his mother pile up the food on each plate. Wordlessly, Nana, Tsuna and Reborn worked in tandem, passing over food or just piling each other's plates with food. It was a routine that Nana and Tsuna had developed, one that Reborn had seamlessly fit into for some strange reason. Only when everyone had plenty of food to eat- Tsuna constantly double checked that he had filled Enma's plate up- did they start to eat.

The atmosphere was intimate, with a running conversation kept up by Nana, and Tsuna and Reborn's constant bantering over something. Enma kept quiet most of the time, but he didn't feel left out judging by his small smile. That was good, Tsuna thought as he nibbled on a sliced bell pepper.

Later that night, while Tsuna and Enma were perusing his song collection on his Ipod after having done some song writing, a small part of Tsuna recalled the pleasant dinner they had and wondered if that was what a family was like.

The next day was much calmer in comparison to Tsuna's rather hectic Friday.

Enma left late that morning once he was sure that Tsuna was fine again, and Tsuna felt better than he had for the whole week. In fact, by the time that he had to go to his tutoring lesson with Gokudera he was feeling like he could do anything. Which isn't very often, until recently, that is. Having friends outside of the internet did wonders for Tsuna.

So, when he walked up to Takesushi (and didn't that sound familiar?) he was humming loudly one of his favourite songs.

_I'm just a teenage dirt bag, baby,_* he sang in his head, stopping his probably off tune humming when he entered the traditional style restaurant. He toned it down to a low hum, still going through the song in his head as he searched for silver hair. Strangely, there was a computer and microphone set up, along with speakers at the front of the shop. The computer must have been old, if the cracks on the screen were anything to go by.

Still, Tsuna ignored it when he finally spotted Gokudera sitting next to the ensemble with a scowl on his face and papers set in front of him.

Tsuna shuffled over, his nerves starting to show as he pulled out the chair opposite of Gokudera with a noisy scrape. Gokudera looked up from where he was glaring at the computer screen at the noise, huffing through his nose when he realized it was just Tsuna. "Get your homework out," Gokudera snapped crossly before going back to fiddle with the computer. Tsuna frowned, but did as the other boy told him to do.

He took out his homework from his duffel bag that he had shoved full of his school stuff, moving aside little things like his wallet and note book (he took it with him _everywhere_) until he found his math work, which had been buried at the bottom of his bag. After a few minutes, he was set, looking back and forth between Octo-Head, the computer and his homework, chewing on the end of a pencil that he had dug out from his bag nervously. Gokudera turned to him a moment later, cracking his stiff neck.

"Right, so what don't you understand?"

- X -

"_Let me die here slowly,_*" a nameless girl sang along to the music, a song called Sayoko which he was pretty sure was done by Vocaloid. "_Nothing goes right- not a trace of honesty,_" here her voice rose in time with the music blaring out from the speakers beside her. "_I'm to blame, so I'll remain,_" She wasn't a bad singer, he supposed. Not as good as some, but definitely not as bad as some singers that he had been forced to listen to over the years (and last few hours, for that matter).

Gokudera was honestly having a good time.

Sawada turned out not to be as idiotic as he had thought, and was honestly appreciative of Gokudera's efforts in tutoring him. The Baseball Idiot had bothered them both for only a short time at the beginning of the night, but left them generally alone. (Gokudera attributed it to the fact that it was Karaoke Night at Takesushi, and the idiot had a lot of customers to take care of) The food was good, and the music was more or less okay.

Sure, every now and then someone sung rather badly, or chose a song that made Gokudera want to set fire to a few things, but most of the time the people going up were rather good at picking songs that didn't grate on his nerves.

Right now, Tsuna was packing up his things, having finished with his homework. He was going home now, having listed off an excuse that Gokudera didn't even listen to. It made Gokudera feel a bit dissatisfied, as he had actually enjoyed the boy's quiet company. He was different from what Gokudera was used to. He wasn't arrogant, or deceptive, or loud. He just . . . was.

"Hey Tsuna! Leaving already?" Gokudera almost groaned, banging his head softly on the back of the chair he was sitting on. Of course Yamamoto had to show up and ruin his mood. He just hoped that the other boy wouldn't scare off Sawada, because right now he was the closest thing to normal in Gokudera's life. Sawada looked like someone easily scared- with his big eyes and flinching. Sort of like Bambi, or something equally ridiculous.

Sawada jumped, looking a bit uncomfortable. It was probably because of Yamamoto's lack of respect to everyone. It pissed off Gokudera to no ends.

"Uh, yeah," he mumbled, fiddling with the frayed end of his graphic t-shirt. He must do that a lot.

"You haven't gone up to sing yet, have you? You should try- it's really fun!" Gokudera scowled, sitting up properly, but couldn't deny his interest. Sawada may have been quiet, but his voice had a certain smoothness and quality to it that Gokudera heard in the voices of the singers he knew. Yamamoto, despite all his faults, wasn't _entirely _stupid. He must have noticed it too, and with their manager's declaration last month it wasn't any wonder that he was pushing Sawada.

"Ah, no, I-I couldn't-" and he was swept away by Yamamoto's cheerfulness and not quite subtle manipulation and manhandling.

"What song?" Gokudera asked dully, his grey eyes watching Yamamoto and Sawada like a hawk. Yamamoto grinned back at him, winking as he put the microphone into Sawada's hands before asking him quietly what songs he knew how to sing. The list that the wide eyed and really confused boy gave him was actually fairly extensive, considering that he didn't look like the type to get out much. Yamamoto nodded, making Sawada stop his useless babbling.

"Choose a number between one and fifteen," Yamamoto asked him. Gokudera gave him an incredulous look, wondering what the hell the Baseball Idiot was thinking. Tsuna stuttered out a hesitant 'ten', and Yamamoto grinned, before telling the boy to relax and heading back to Gokudera. "Secrets, by Decimo." Yamamoto told him with his usual idiotic grin, but with a glint in his eyes that Gokudera usually saw when he was serious. He debated whether he should tell Yamamoto to fuck off, because Sawada had that panicked look on his face that Gokudera nearly always saw at school on.

"Don't tell me what to do, Baseball Idiot," he told him as Yamamoto made himself comfortable on Sawada's previous seat. Still, Gokudera pulled up the song (Youtube really was amazing for shit like this) and waited to see what Sawada would do. The familiar music played out through the speakers, filling every nook and cranny in the restaurant. The other customers only glanced at the front once before going back to their quiet conversations.

Sawada started singing, just a second later than when he should have, but Gokudera should have expected that. "_I need another story, something to get off my chest,_" while his voice wasn't bad, it lacked that certain something to it that Gokudera found in all good singers. It was shaky, and a bit too breathy to sound as good as he had hoped it would. Yamamoto looked equally as disappointed as he left to attend to a customer.

"_-all my sleeves are turned red, from all the truth that I've said,_" Sawada looked around the restaurant, apprehension and wariness slowly draining out of his face as he took in the restaurant. Gokudera glanced around, wondering if Sawada was relaxing because of the blatant disinterest in him. "_Come by it honestly I swear,_" Maybe he was right. Sawada wasn't as tense as he was at the start. "_Thought you saw me wink, no,_" Whatever.

Gokudera closed his eyes and leaned back, tired from the late night he had pulled yesterday. As soon as this song was over he was going to pack up his stuff, go home and sleep like the god damned _dead_. "_I've been on the brink, so,_" that voice seemed to hold some humor in it, as if the person itself was remembering something. Gokudera found his eyebrows furrowing unconsciously. Was it just him or was Sawada getting better?

"_Tell me what you want to hear!_" There it was. The voice that had risen with the music now had that _something. _It wasn't shaky anymore, instead it was strong. Gokudera blinked up at the ceiling of Takesushi, staring directly at the yellow stain above him with astonishment. "_Something that will light those years- sick of all the insincere,_" No, it wasn't just him, Gokudera decided as he glanced around the restaurant to see an equally surprised Yamamoto looked at Sawada- who was ignoring everyone.

"_So I'm gonna to give all my secrets away,_" Now that Gokudera listened closely, he noticed that Sawada's voice didn't really match the way the song was being played. He sounded like he would be better with acoustic instead of a band. He had potential though, lots of it. Gokudera was sure that with a bit of practice, he would be able to sing with a full band behind him and still sound stupidly brilliant.

"_-I don't really like my flow,_" Sawada Tsunayoshi had that something. It was obvious to everyone as they listened to him sing, now completely happy where he stood, adjusting the grip on the microphone every time he took a breath. What had his sister told him it was when he described it? Gift? Talent? No, it was something else.

"_All my secrets away._"

_Passion__, _his mind supplied him as the song ended, far too soon.

The small crowd behind Gokudera cheered.

- X -

* '_I'm just a teenage dirt bag, baby._' Line from the song Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.

* '_Let me die here slowly. Nothing goes right . . ._' Lyrics from the English version of the song Sayoko by Vocaloid.

* '_I need another story, something to get off my chest . . ._' Lyrics from the song Secrets by OneRepublic.


	8. Bonus Chapter

**Author's Note: **Thank you to Kurorinny for warning me about the deletion of stories. I hadn't thought that I would be affected, but it appears that I was wrong. If Peregrine Blues is taken down, I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe I'll move to Live Journal.

Anyway, this bonus chapter is in thanks for the warning. I didn't know about the Black Out until she told me. Thank you to everyone else who reviewed and encouraged me too!

By the way, I changed my pen name! I am now C.S. Thompson, as you can see.

**Author:** C.S. Thompson

**Summary: **Random thing that smacked me in the face.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** REBORN. And guns. Mafia stuff too.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Bonus Chapter:****  
Mafia  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'No duh.'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"Mafia?" Tsuna stuttered, feeling rather faint.

Octopus Hea- Gokudera nodded seriously, not noticing the colour steadily draining from Tsuna's face as he tinkered with a small, decorated box. "Did you hit your head last night boss?" he asked, glancing up at his work to give Tsuna a concerned look through his wire rimmed glasses. And when the hell did Gokudera, his _teenage _tutor start wearing glasses and suits and grow up into a calm and collected adult?

"N-no, I don't t-think so . . ." Tsuna stuttered, sort of wishing he did and this was all a fucked up hallucination that Reborn had somehow created. Maybe he was hallucinating, because he was sure that his father wasn't stupid enough to get caught up with the bad guys. Or maybe he was and that was why he hadn't seen Iemitsu for years. Served the him right, Tsuna thought viciously. Honestly, what was he thinking, leaving his family like that without calling occasionally?

But then why was he the boss of the Italian mafia? And why the hell were they named after a god damn _clam_? Surely it was a joke. Because even Tsuna had enough sense to name a mafia family with a slightly scarier and more awe inspiring name than _clam_. _Fuck,_ Tsuna swore uncharacteristically. _Stop thinking about this_. He must have bumped his head last night, or Reborn must have done some unspeakable evil to him in the name of 'science'- or more likely for the sake of 'learning'.

"Boss? Tsuna? You feeling alright?" Tsuna's eyes snapped over to Gokudera, no small amount of panic in them as he finally noticed the shiny gun on the futuristic table that Gokudera was working at. He didn't feel alright. In fact, Tsuna felt like he was going to throw up. When did hallucinations sound so realistic?

"Maybe you should sit down," Gokudera muttered, putting down the small red box in his hands on top of a stack of papers that read '_Target: Angelo Moretti_'- Tsuna stopped reading. Tsuna jumped when he felt heavy hands clamp down on his shoulder, but he was too in shock to scream or fight when he was gently pushed down onto the chair that Gokudera had just vacated. "I should call Ryohei to do a check up,"

"Who?"

". . . And Reborn too," Oh. Reborn. That made sense. Reborn was behind all of this, he had to be.

Gokudera left him to talk to the wall, which was strange. But there was a device set into the wall that had voices coming out from it, so maybe that was a phone of sorts. Tsuna took that moment to look around warily. The room was too white, in Tsuna's opinion. Sterile too. It reminded him of a hospital room in it's cleanliness, but maybe it was a science lab. The random gadgets lying around on various surfaces, along with tools that Tsuna recognized and didn't recognize. There were also complicated designs laid out on the table in front of Tsuna. They all revolved around . . . a box.

Granted it was the strange red box that Adult-Gokudera had been fiddling with, but still.

A whir of machinery interrupted his thoughts, making Tsuna look up to see a metallic door open up to admit three people. Aside from the too advanced door, the people coming in to the room made him double take.

A white haired man with a plaster on his nose came walking in, his hands wrapped tightly in bandages. Or maybe it was that adhesive tape thing that he saw some boxers in his school use, Tsuna couldn't tell the difference. The other person was an older version of Yamamoto, and he too was wearing a suit. He had a scar on his jaw, and his eyes looked sharper than the teenage version that Tsuna knew. He was also carrying a sword on his back.

The last person made Tsuna want to faint. A child version of Reborn. God, why was everyone's age reversed? (And this one still had the lizard with him, Leon.)

"What's up?" Yamamoto asked slinging an arm around Gokudera.

Gokudera scowled, "Something's wrong with boss. I think he might have amnesia- he can't remember anything about the mafia."

The white haired man was already moving towards Tsuna before Gokudera finished his sentence, his steps only faltering for a moment when he heard Gokudera's suspicions. The younger Reborn was also moving towards him, and Tsuna wondered if Reborn was just as cruel and scary as a child. Probably. Knowing his luck, an adult Reborn was probably mellower than how he was in his youth.

"Are you sure?" The white haired man asked.

Gokudera nodded, "He asked who you were when I mentioned you."

Should he run? Tsuna felt like he should run. Especially when Reborn pushed past Whitey and stood in front of Tsuna. Oh wow, he was taller than Reborn. That was novel. "No Good Tsuna, do you remember me?"

"It's sort of hard to forget you," Tsuna replied dryly. Child Reborn raised a thin eyebrow. "Ow!" Tsuna yelped, clutching his head in his hands. Reborn had whacked him with surprising strength. "What was that for?" Tsuna asked, rolling the chair back to get away from the psychopathic child.

"Respect your elders," Reborn answered simply. This time it was Tsuna's turn to raise his eyebrow.

"You never minded before." Tsuna pointed out. He threw himself back against the chair when Reborn rose his hand again, toppling the chair he was sitting on over accidentally. "Shit, that hurt," Tsuna moaned on the ground, rubbing his shoulder. Tsuna paused, realizing that he had swore aloud before shrugging (and wincing). He was too freaked out in a numb sort of way to care about his language. They were all adults here. Well, Reborn technically wasn't, but mentally he was like a sociopathic Einstein.

There was a moment of amazed silence, then, "Tsuna swore." _No duh._

Who were these people? Gokudera wouldn't have blinked if he let out a swear word before. Yamamoto would be serving them sushi, for goodness sake!

Suddenly, a bright green (_green_) gun was in his face. "Who was your middle school crush," Reborn demanded harshly. Tsuna gave him a weird look.

"Kyoko. Why?"

"Birthday,"

"October fourteenth. Is there a point to this?"

"Shut up. Do you remember Xanxus?"

"XanXus? The singer of Varia?" There was an unsettling silence.

"Singer?" Gokudera croaked.

"Well, yeah. You know? He sung Flaming Rage."

"Flaming Rage? _Flaming Ra_-" There was a note of hysteria in Gokudera's voice, but he was cut by a sharp shush from Reborn before Tsuna could make much of it.

"Do you remember battling Xanxus?" Yamamoto asked with a serious face.

"Uh, no. But he was part of the Battle of the Bands." Tsuna told him, hoping he had answered right.

"Bands? As in, like, singing?" The white haired man asked. Gokudera looked rather faint, and Tsuna was starting to become a bit more confused.

"Yeah."

"Singing?"

"Yeah. As in-_ be a jukebox hero, got the stars in his eyes. He's a jukebox hero!_* That stuff?"

Gokudera fainted, and Tsuna, well he-

RING RING.

-Tsuna woke up.

- X -

* '_And be a jukebox hero, go the stars in his eyes . . ._' Lyrics from the song Jukebox Hero by Foreigner.


	9. Hiding in Alleyways

**Author's Note: **Ha, another chapter! Except this one is like a day late and hasn't been edited properly. Woops. But I have a reason, really. I was really distracted these last few days because of Harry Potter crossovers with Avengers. And I found the Yogscast on Youtube. They are _hilarious_. Not a very good reason, but a reason nonetheless.

On another note, someone mentioned after reading the bonus chapter that Tsuna curses more often. The reason for this is that Tsuna is in _high school_. (What high schooler doesn't say the occasional swear or perverted comment?) He didn't meet Reborn, Gokudera or anyone during those years. He didn't have_ friends_ in middle school. I like to think that Tsuna started his blog then, and on the internet no one cares much for censoring themselves. So yeah, that's why Tsuna (and a lot of other people for that matter) are a bit OOC. Not _too_ OOC, I hope . . .

**Author:** C.S. Thompson

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn and the Varia. (Mukuro will be added when he actually appears). Implications of bullying and actual bullying. Implications of violence. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Seven:****  
Hiding in Alleyways  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'Scary thought. Abort, abort!'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"I can't believe it Enma!" Tsuna exclaimed, referring to the news that they had heard on the radio just as they were leaving the shop. Seven in the evening and the sun was still shining above their heads, though they should have expected that now that it was late spring.

They were standing outside Long Bakery, having just finished their shifts for the day. Well, Tsuna had finished the deliveries an hour or so ago, but had stayed behind to keep Enma company. It had been a week since Tsuna's rant in the chatroom that they both frequented, and he was doing much better now. It helped that school and Shimon were great at distracting him, along with the song requests he did in his spare time.

"You must really like this band," Enma commented as he adjusted the straps of his worn out bag, not really looking at Tsuna.

Tsuna grinned ecstatically, "Like them? I think American Rejects* is absolutely brilliant!" Tsuna told him, walking backwards to face Enma as he told him this. His brown eyes were sparkling, his smile was full of teeth and happy feelings. Tsuna turned around again to face the front a moment later, stretching his arms above his head as if he could touch the sky. Enma chuckled at Tsuna's uncharacteristic display of enthusiasm. It wasn't often that Tsuna flailed around for a good reason, usually he just flailed when he had one of his clumsy moments.

The people around them moved away, not wanting to get caught up in Tsuna's wild movements.

"And they're coming here- to Namimori! We have to go, Enma, please?" Tsuna asked, whipping around to grab Enma's hand and give him the best puppy eyes he could. Tsuna wasn't sure if it would work, the puppy eyes. He had never used them before because he had no one to use them on (his mother did not count, because she was pretty much okay with everything), and practicing facial expressions in front of the mirror just seemed strange. So, it was touch and go right now, but that didn't take the fun out of trying.

Enma gave him a considering look, still walking despite Tsuna's grasp on his left hand. "I've never been to a concert before," the redhead mused aloud.

"Neither have I," Tsuna told him, beaming. Enma let out a quick amused exhale through his nose, glancing at Tsuna in the corner of his eyes.

"Well . . . I don't know if Adelheid will let me." Enma said with a teasing note in his words. Tsuna winced at the mention of the proud girl, remembering the threats that he had received from the her at various times during his acquaintance with Enma. She was definitely a formidable woman. Girl. Yakuza member. Whatever she was, it was best to stay out of her way, as Tsuna had learned.

Enma laughed again, this time because of the complicated expression on Tsuna's face. "She's not that bad," he told him. Tsuna grinned sheepishly at Enma, rubbing his hand on the back of his head and probably making his hair stick up even more. Enma was right, after all. Adelheid wasn't as bad as Tsuna often depicted her in his mind. She was certainly better than Reborn, all things considered. Sure she was scarily like Hibari, the prefect of his school, at times but with Enma and him she seemed okay. Nice, in fact. Or as nice as a female version of Hibari could be- must be those motherly instincts.

If only Reborn was a bit more like Adelheid, Tsuna sighed wistfully, but then winced. Except maybe not with the chest. Or female body parts- imagining Reborn as a woman gave him shivers in the not-pleasant way and more of the Oh-dear-God way. Tsuna did not want to face the wrath of a PMSing Reborn . . .

_Oh crap,_ Tsuna thought, coughing on his own spit. _Scary thought. Abort, abort__!_

"Uh, Tsuna?"

"It's nothing- just swallowed wrong," Tsuna gasped, waving his hand dismissively. Enma gave him a disbelieving look but didn't press. They continued to walk down the street, talking casually like any other person their age. It was a nice day- the sun was shining like there was no tomorrow, it wasn't too hot or too chilly, and they didn't get any rude customers that afternoon either. Heck, Reborn didn't even barge into his room for the last two nights and Gokudera was still tutoring him (every Saturday at Takesushi, in fact). In Tsuna's opinion it was a pretty good _week_.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Tsuna paused, his steps faltering when he heard an unfortunately familiar voice. Enma bumped into him from behind and both of them nearly fell to the floor, much like they did when Enma first invited him to Shimon's band practice. The redhead gave him a confused look when he sidestepped Tsuna, but Tsuna wasn't paying attention. Instead, Tsuna was frantically searching for the source of that voice he head just heard. After a few moments, Tsuna started to relax when he couldn't find _him_.

"I did not!" Tsuna almost groaned when he heard that voice again, scarily close to where Enma and he were standing. Slowly, he glanced to the other side of the narrow street, almost cursing aloud when he saw the person he had been trying to avoid for the last two weeks. Mochida stood across the street, scowling down at a tall girl with long, thin braids. "And I already apologized to him a week ago- I _told _you."

"Then why has he been _avoiding _you?" the girl asked with a slight accent, her hands on her hips.

Crap.

Tsuna dived into the alleyway conveniently next to them, dragging a very confused Enma behind him. (Thank God it hadn't rained.) Tsuna pushed him behind the empty trashcans and squatted down next to the redhead, peering out from behind the trashcans to see if Mochida and the girl had left yet. "Tsuna? What are we doing?"

'We'. Not 'you'. That made Tsuna feel a bit safer, knowing that Enma wouldn't abandon him. Still, Tsuna shushed Enma, whispering, "That's Moe," as he pointed at Mochida.

"_Moe_? Shit, Tsuna, stop doing that!" Enma whisper-yelled, pulling Tsuna back into safety. Tsuna let out a small noise when his back hit the brick wall behind them, glaring at Enma a bit. "They'll see you," Enma explained, rolling his eyes. Tsuna huffed, watching Enma through narrowed eyes as the redhead slowly peered at them.

"Are they still there?" Tsuna asked quietly, shuffling in his spot a bit to get comfortable. Enma shushed him, waving his hand behind him in a sign to stay back and stay quiet, nearly hitting Tsuna in the face. He would have if Tsuna didn't throw himself onto the dirty alley floor. They both yelped in pain, Enma because he whacked his hand into the wall and Tsuna because he hit his head on the cement. Enma cursed, rubbing his hand and retreating behind their shelter.

Tsuna himself was splayed out on the floor, clutching his head in pain. "Yeah, they're still there. I think they're waiting for someone." Tsuna just replied with a pained groan, not even bothering to get up when Enma pulled his leg back into their safe zone. Tsuna paused when he heard something shuffling deeper in the alley. "What are we going to do, then?" Enma asked, sighing as he messed up his hair in irritation. Tsuna didn't reply, only blinking when he heard the sound again, only louder.

"Run for it? Go incognito? I have some stuff in my bag, I think. Or we could take a chance and explore the alley," Enma listed off their options, ticking each one off of his fingers. Tsuna snorted at the last one, staring up at the sky.

"And get mugged or raped- I'm too young to die, Enma." Tsuna mumbled, letting go of his head to flop down on the floor in despair. Enma gave him a strange look.

"You hit your head pretty hard, huh?" Tsuna nudged Enma with his leg. Hard enough to make him almost fall into the trashcans. "Hey! I'm just trying to help, you know," Enma complained. Tsuna lifted his head to look at Enma properly, his face contrite. Enma caught the look and rolled his eyes again. He reached out and gave Tsuna a harsh belly rub, making Tsuna giggle uncontrollably.

"Stop that," another giggle, "I'm ticklish!" Enma gave him a grin before peering out again.

"They're still there- how long are they gonna stand there?" Enma muttered, exasperated. Tsuna shrugged, his shirt getting caught on the cement. He froze when he heard something rustle in the small pile of trash further into the alley. Tsuna shot up from his prone position to clutch almost desperately at Enma's shirt when he heard the noise again.

"Oh my God, Enma, there's something in the alley with us," he whispered, glancing nervously at the trash pile. Enma let himself be pulled back by Tsuna, considering the pile of trash that Tsuna was pointing at. It shivered violently, making Tsuna squeak and bury his face in Enma's shirt. Enma, the fearless guy, was squinting at the hideaway of their unwanted companion, ignoring Tsuna's trembling.

"Tsuna," he said slowly. "That's a cat."

Tsuna blinked, withdrawing from Enma to glance at the trash pile. Sure enough, there was a cat sitting on top of the now deflated pile, licking it's paw serenely. "Oh," Tsuna said, letting go of Enma's shirt and leaving some wrinkles in it. Tsuna squinted at the cat. "It looks like a lion. A small, chubby lion," he added. Enma snorted, coughing in his hand to cover up a laugh. Tsuna almost pouted.

Tsuna rolled his eyes instead, reaching into his duffel bag to get out his tuna sandwich. He took off the slice of bread on top to reveal the fishy goodness underneath, and set the sandwich on the floor in front of him, using the cling wrap as plate of sorts. "Here kitty, kitty," he cooed, adding in the occasional click of his tongue as he tried to lure the cat closer. Enma gave him a wary look.

Slowly, the cat came closer until it was finally in front of him, munching on the tuna as Tsuna rubbed it's ears affectionately. "Was that meant to be your lunch?" Enma asked as he shuffled closer to pet the cat too. Tsuna nodded, cooing at the big cat underneath his hand. Enma snorted, "Cannibalism," he muttered, grinning slyly when Tsuna whacked him on the shoulder.

Tsuna turned back to the cat, "I think I'll name him Natsu." Enma hummed, scratching the newly named Natsu underneath his chin. _Bonding in an alleyway_, Tsuna thought with some humour. Who would have thought.

"Tsuna?"

Tsuna looked up and almost groaned. Standing behind them was Mochida and the nameless girl. Oh, come _on_.

- X -

**XANXUS CAUGHT IN FATAL CAR CRASH**

by _Bianchi Babilio_- 43 hours ago

Email l Recommend [1k] l Tweet [151] l Share [25] l Print

On May 26th, the lead singer and pianist of the popular band Varia, XanXus, was involved in a fatal crash  
nearby Venice, in Italy. The Italian was on the highway, reportedly with three other men with  
him when a drunk driver crashed into his vehicle.

Ambulance arrived at the scene too late to save three of the five men involved in the crash, but have  
taken the singer and who police have identified as his older brother to hospital. XanXus, or Ricardo, as he  
is known to close friends and family, is currently in critical condition with severe burns and other injuries.  
His brother, Federico, died two hours after their arrival at hospital.

Police have yet to release the names of the two other men that were with XanXus at the time, nor the  
name of the drunk driver.

The rest of the band of Varia have chosen not to give any comments or interviews, and their band manager  
has planned for the band to hold a press conference in a week, should all band members agree.

- X -

_**Tuna-Fish**_**'s Blog**  
Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**My Wonderful Life**_  
**Because everyone needs a place to rant.**

_June 3rd, 20XX at 9:01 PM_

So. I met Moe on the way home from my job today. (I mentioned him, didn't I?) It

was awkward as hell, let me tell you. I'm not sure if it was because of our last

meeting in which a lot of . . . stuff happened, or because I've been avoiding him

for a solid two weeks, or if it's just me being me.

I hid in an alleyway with True-Flame (who is my friend in real life :D ), but they

spotted us in the end.

Anyway, he introduced me to the person who beat him up. She is a middle school

girl. I shall name her Penny. Also, while she may seem small and friendly, she's

actually deadly. (Like a hedgehog.) Penny is Moe's cousin, apparently. She's

attending my old middle school and heard about Moe being a bully. And she doesn't

like bullies.

She was nice enough though. Somehow she roped True-Flame and I into meeting her

(and a friend of hers) at the American Rejects concert this weekend. True-Flame and

I were already making plans to go there before we dived behind the trashcans, so it

wasn't like it would ruin our weekends or anything.

Sunny has also been tutoring me more often in his spartan ways. I think it must be his

stress relief or something. But I have been learning. He keeps History interesting by

including the history of music along with the other stuff. Octo-Head has been less

grumpy, too. Everyone is a bit high strung because of the increase of gang activities in

my neighbourhood, though. My mom nearly said no when I asked her if I could go to the

concert, which goes to show how worried she is over it.

(And I had a strange dream about being involved in the Italian mafia. I blame you,

Bunny and Cloud. You two and stress have been making my dreams weird.)

**Mood:** Content  
**Tags: **_real life_, _school_, _event_  
_  
See previous posts_

Leave a comment [28]

_BunnyofDOOM:_ Hey sweetheart! It's been a while since you've last posted an entry. Though I suppose that with a social life that would happen. Don't leave me forever, though! And on Penny? I have to say, I think it's a good things that you have a strong girl on your side. (She shall defend you!) You've been surrounded by testosterone filled guys for _ages_, I was worried that they would affect you into thinking with your miniscule brawn instead of your brains. Thanks for the pictures of lunch, by the way. My friend still didn't believe me, but meh. It looked delicious too! (And it's not my fault, you dream that is.)

_Tuna-Fish: _Yeah, I have been busy. School is ending soon so the teachers are going on warpath, I swear. And I don't think I'll ever leave LJ*. It's my nesting grounds, after all. I have my own little niche in this place, and I don't want to leave everyone here. Mind you, Bunny, I'm a guy myself. It's not bad to have guy friends/acquaintances. And what the heck do you mean by 'miniscule brawn'? (It is. You two keep fighting about everything and you went on and on about the mafia and that just shouldn't happen. Who knows how many police officers or shady people are watching my blog now?)

_BunnyofDOOM: _I know what you mean. My teachers have been conspiring together, I think. They all make sure I never have any free time anymore. Aww, LJ shall always be my headquarters/burrow/cesspit/lair too! I know you're a guy, but you're too delicate for those brutes. Your guitar is almost too big for you, sweetie, and your hands look tiny in the videos. (Blame Cloud. I never start our fights. And you're way too paranoid.)

_Tuna-Fish: _. . . Cesspit? I'm not even going to comment on the rest of your reply. (Paranoia is my friend.)

_Cloud: _I have punished this Moe herbivore according to his transgressions appropriately. If he proves to be a problem again inform your disciplinary committee immediately.

_Tuna-Fish: _Um, what if he isn't the same Moe? I mean, we could be talking about different people. And the disciplinary committee has been busy lately . . .

_Cloud: _Do no doubt my abilities.

_Tuna-Fish: _Erm. Right.

_Cloud: _Hn. Enjoy the concert.

_Tuna-Fish: _Uh, thank you!

_Scorpion Ai: _Having more women in your life is a good thing, sweetheart. Sunny is being helpful, I see. My own love has an interest in music, though he does not often do business in that industry. Lately though, he has been paying more attention to it and has been spending less time with me. I cannot complain though. Also, be careful. My little brother goes to school in your area, I think, and he has seen some of the damage done by fights in the morning. It worries me.

_Tuna-Fish: _Yeah. Sunny has been helpful. And I'm sorry to hear about you and your boyfriend. I'll be careful; never go out after dark by yourself, right?

_Scorpion Ai: _My love is not my boyfriend. Also, yes, it will be best if you avoid going out during the night. If you must, bring an adult like Sunny. He sounds like a reliable man. But perhaps I am assuming so because he sounds so much like my love . . .

_Tuna-Fish: _Is he your husband or fiance, then? Sunny is rather reliable, actually. But he's not predictable, so I don't know if he will go with me if I ask.

_Scorpion Ai: _My love is neither. And you never know of you don't try. Ask.

_Tuna-Fish: _Um, right. Thank you for the advice.

_Mr. Extreme: _The concert sounds extreme! In my neighbourhood, I have seen a lot of destruction! SOMEONE UNEXTREME HAS BEEN VANDALIZING. IF I FIND THEM, I WILL MAKE THEM STOP!

_Tuna-Fish: _I'm excited about the concert too! Really? Vandalism doesn't happen often in my neighbourhood because of Mr. Prefect, so when I see destruction I always assume that a fight between some rule-breakers and the disciplinary committee happened not too long ago. Usually they're really good at sending the clean up crew as soon as the fight is over . . .

_Mr. Extreme: _YOUR COMMITTEE SOUND EXTREME.

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Ha ha ha! Penny sounds like a great person! You should make friends with her, Tuna. Have fun at the concert, too! I've always wanted to go to a concert, but I never got around to going to one. Maybe Octo-Head are drinking more milk? It looks like he's been dealing with his calcium deficiency!

_Tuna-Fish: _Maybe we will become friends, who knows? Thank you, this will be my first concert. I'm sure you'll get to go to many concerts with your friends!

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Thanks!

_RedDragon: _Hello, Tuna-Fish. It's been awhile, hasn't it? It's good to see that you're having fun, though the increase of gang activities is a bit worrying.

_Tuna-Fish: _It has. First it was you, and now it's me, huh? Don't worry about the gang stuff. They keep it well away from my high school because of Mr. Prefect and his lackeys. I think they're fighting over territory or something. It's mostly been centered around the highway, from what I hear.

_RedDragon: _Ha ha! It'll become a pattern, soon enough. Anyway, I can't help but worry about it. My niece has been talking about it (I think that you two may live in the same area), and she's a bit nervous. I didn't know that it was around the highway. What would they want there?

_Tuna-Fish: _Your niece? I hope she'll be okay . . . As for the gang fights, I have no idea. I only heard about it from the rumors going on in my school. I know that most rumors are false, but there's always that grain of truth, right? I think that they might want to area around the highway for easy transport and secrecy. The highway I'm talking about is mostly secluded, because over there is only creepy tress and abandoned buildings. It the part of town that no one goes to anymore.

_RedDragon: _I think that she'll be fine. She's not in the habit of wandering after dark, and she knows how to defend herself for the most part. What you said about the gang's reasoning does make a lot of sense. Have fun at the concert, by the way.

_Tuna-Fish:_ Thank you!

- X -

* _American Rejects._ I do hope that I won't have explain who this band is, since people seemed fine with the One Direction reference in chapter four.

* LJ is Live Journal. I used Live Journal as a rough format for Tsuna's blogs, so I decided that Tsuna uses the site.


	10. Bonus Chapter, Dorky

**SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT (?) Author's Note: **Okay, I know that I really should be working on the next chapter of Peregrine Blues. Especially since the next chapter is finally going to move the plot along (Let me give you a hint, purple pineapples and hetero chromatic eyes), but I got distracted by a plot bunny. So just to get rid of it, I wrote and posted _Life Lessons_, another KHR fic_._

As an apology, have a cookie and this bonus chapter. I know a lot of people rather have me write a sequel to the bonus chapter Mafia, but I can't help but love writing out interactions between Tsuna and Enma. And I've been watching too much Minecraft videos. I will go back to writing Peregrine soon. Really.

**Author:** C.S. Thompson

**Summary: **Tsuna and Enma hang out one night. Because being cool is overrated.

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** _No_ Reborn, Gokudera or Yamamoto (I know right?). Shimon, specifically Koyo. Swearing. Some (pixelated) violence.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or the game Minecraft in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction.

~ ' * ' ~

**Bonus Chapter:****  
Dorky  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_''You're always dying.''  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"Minecraft? Seriously, Enma?" Tsuna asked as he set up his laptop.

It was Friday night and Enma decided to drag Tsuna to his house, which Tsuna liked to call the Shimon Place. Well, he called the basement the Shimon Cave and no one had yelled at him about it yet. In fact, Tsuna was pretty sure that a a few of the band members were nicknaming it the Cave too.

Nana was happy and didn't mind a bit that Tsuna was staying the night. However, Reborn was a bit peeved when Tsuna mentioned it. Probably because he couldn't randomly burst into Tsuna's room and 'tutor' him. Not that Tsuna minded the tutoring (he had two tutors now, Reborn _and _Gokudera). With the end of the school year coming up Tsuna was going to need all the help he could get- but it was nice to have a break every now and then.

Enma nodded, grinning slightly as he showed Tsuna how to get into the server. "I'll teach you how to play, it's really simple."

Tsuna hoped it was. He hadn't played a computer game for a very long time, so it would take awhile for him to get used to everything again. It was a good thing that he had Enma right next to him to talk him through the game play.

They were hiding in Enma's room for the night, both having decided that a break from music would do them some good. Enma's old, scratched up desk was big enough for the both of them to place their laptops on, and the only problem they came across was finding a chair for Tsuna.

Their 'spawn point' was right next to what looked like a large lake. Tsuna moved his mouse, looking around where they had ended up and caught sight of Enma's character. It looked sort of like a . . . ginger pirate. "What the heck, Enma?"

Enma shrugged, unconcerned, already moving to the blocky trees not far off from where they were. "What? You've got a beard," he replied as he _punched _the trees. A moment later the block of tree Enma's pirate was punching disappeared, leaving behind a miniature version of it on the floor. It was quickly picked up by the pirate (maybe Tsuna should call it by it's user name, it would be easier). Tsuna almost said 'what the heck' again, but refrained. He had a feeling that he would be saying that a lot that night.

"What are we doing?" Tsuna asked as moved his character- _Duke_- to hop up next to _Matthias___Grimm_, Enma's character, who was still smashing trees.

"Collecting wood to build a shelter of sorts, otherwise when night comes we're screwed." Enma answered simply before ordering Tsuna to help him collect more wood. It wasn't long before the game screen was darkening and Enma was telling Tsuna to meet up with him nearby their spawn point. Tsuna got distracted by the animals every now and then, but he made it back to where Enma was just as the sun finally disappeared.

"Oh no," Enma muttered, clicking frantically to put down blocks of wood and dirt underneath floating blocks of leaves.

"What?" Tsuna asked, confused as he chucked his blocks of wood at _Matthias_Grimm._

"No time to explain," Enma told him, before somehow pushing _Duke _through the narrow opening of the small hut he had just made. "Just stay inside," Tsuna was starting to think that he really should have done some research on Minecraft. Sure he's heard about the game a few times. He knew that they mined stuff, as the title suggested. He knew that they made things, too. But Tsuna couldn't remember that little tidbit of information about the game and darkness that had him feeling a bit skittish.

_Matthias_Grimm_ closed the door behind him before plopping down what looked like a block of wood covered by a table cloth and a torch. Tsuna moved _Duke _to the door, peering outside through the small little windows. There was something moving outside underneath the sparse moonlight and Tsuna could hear strange hissing sounds every now and then. "What's outside? I see something green there," Tsuna told Enma, glancing a the redhead next to him.

"Oh _shit_, that's a creeper. Tsuna, get away from the door!" Enma hissed, unconsciously lowering his voice. Tsuna did so, and listened patiently as Enma explained things (monsters, seriously?) before throwing a wooden pick axe at Tsuna.

"I don't feel very safe," Tsuna commented, taking another peek outside. There wasn't anything outside that Tsuna could see, but he could hear a few sounds coming from the speakers of his computer. The game's graphics were strange to Tsuna. He was used to seeing games as realistic looking as possible because those games were usually more popular. He supposed that Minecraft had it's own sort of charm in it's blocky and relatively simple graphics.

"Hang on, I'm making a stone sword," Enma answered a moment later, staring intently at his laptop screen. Tsuna hummed rubbing his eyes tiredly before going back to digging into the ground below him. It was pretty late right now. Enma's room was dark, lit only by the sparse sunlight coming from the window and the light from their computer screens. "Alright," Enma said loudly, startling Tsuna. "Here," he said as _Matthias_Grimm_ chucked a miniature version of a sword at _Duke_.

Tsuna equipped the sword, following Enma's pirate outside of the tiny hut a moment later. "What are we doing?" Tsuna asked, looking around the area. There was a skeleton not very far off, but not close enough to be too much of a worry.

"Defending our property," Enma replied, edging around the corner of their shack. Tsuna huffed, directing _Duke_ to follow _Matthias_Grimm_. "I see something," Enma whispered, carefully edging his hunched character forward. Tsuna raised an eyebrow.

"I hear something." Tsuna told Enma, rubbing the back of his neck. His computer felt warm underneath his hand, and the last of the sunlight had waned away to practically nothing. It was late in the evening and both of them hadn't eaten dinner yet- which would be the leftovers of whatever Adelheid had made. They would probably have to heat it up again and be very quiet about it, as everyone else in the house would probably be already asleep.

Enma's sudden, _loud_ exclamation startled Tsuna out of his thoughts. He turned back to the screen, frantically asking Enma what was going on. _Matthias_Grimm_ was running sideways away from _Duke _and their crappy hut, jumping occasionally. A green creature with four legs and an unhappy expression followed Enma moments later, surprising Tsuna enough to make him back away.

"It's a creeper! Oh God, oh God," Enma exclaimed while _Matthias_Grimm _ran back to the shack almost frantically. Tsuna directed his character to run back into the hut and accidentally fell into the small hole that he had dug earlier. "Fuck! Fuck, Tsuna, you closed the door!"

"Did I?" Tsuna blinked, trying to jump out of his hole and failing because the crafting table got in his way. He managed it a moment later and turned to the door. It was indeed closed, and Tsuna directed _Duke _to open it for Enma without a pause. "There, it's open now," he said, peeking outside to see Enma's redheaded pirate running with a creeper _and_ a skeleton behind him towards the shack. "What the hell, Enma?" Tsuna yelled, going back into the safety of the hut.

"Crapcrapcrapcrap- let me in, let me in!" Enma yelled back. The door to Enma's bedroom slammed open that moment, startling both the occupants of the room. Tsuna fell off his chair in surprise, a high pitched squeal leaving his mouth. Enma handled his surprise much more gracefully, springing out of his seat with his seldom used baseball bat in front of him like a sword. He only cursed once, too.

In the doorway stood the drummer of Shimon, Koyo, with his fists up in preparation for a fight and a worried look on his face.

Everyone stared at each other in confusion, before starting out of their frozen position when a bang erupted from the laptops. Enma groaned, putting down his bat to check his computer screen. "Okay, I'm dead." Tsuna coughed awkwardly as he clambered back onto his seat. Koyo stayed where he was at the doorway, looking with interest at the computer screen.

"At least the sun is rising, now." Tsuna commented. Tsuna turned towards Koyo. "Er. Would you like to come in?"

Surprisingly, Koyo did so a moment later. With his own laptop.

It didn't take long before all three of them were comfortable enough around each other as they played the game. Koyo had claimed Enma's bed for himself while Tsuna had moved to the floor so that he could sit cross legged comfortably. Enma stayed at the table, using Tsuna's previous chair as a footstool. They had opened the window and turned on the fan in an effort to keep their computers from over heating a while ago.

"DIE!" Koyo yelled clicking frantically as he tried to kill the spider in front of his game character, _Forrest_. Behind _Forrest_, _Duke _and _Matthias_Grimm _were switching between running away from the spiders that were after them and attacking.

"I can't see where the hell I'm going- Tsuna do you have torches?" Enma asked loudly. Tsuna had just killed the spider that was after him, while Enma and Koyo were both still trying to kill the multiple spiders around. Tsuna grunted an affirmative, switching out his sword for the torches in his inventory and placing them around the cavern they had found themselves in. He made sure that there were plenty of torches around the monster spawner too.

"Okay." Enma said after he finally killed the spiders. "Okay. Where the hell are we?"

"I have no idea." Koyo told them calmly before directing _Forrest_ to head deeper into the cavern. _Duke_ and _Matthias_Grimm _followed helplessly. Koyo was the main fighter of their merry band, so it wouldn't do them much good to head back or stay where they were. He was also the one with the most experience out of all of them, which had surprised Tsuna and Enma both. Tsuna had always thought that Koyo liked boxing too much to waste his time with computer games, but apparently he was wrong.

"Shit!" Koyo cursed, running back to them. Tsuna took it as a sign to run like heck and Enma followed a second later. "Creeper- _creepers_," Koyo said as an explanation, getting _Forrest_ to turn back every now and then to hack at the four legged creatures behind them. Tsuna gaped at his screen in horror, deciding that jumping to get ahead faster was a pretty good idea. One creeper was horrible enough, but _two _was just too much.

"Run! Run for your fucking lives!" Koyo was really into the game, wasn't he? A moment later, explosions went off.

"Fuck! Damn it," Enma cursed. Tsuna directed _Duke _to turn around, looking at the destruction left in their wake. There was a new hole there, with lots of floating junk scattered about. "I died again." Enma sighed, leaning back against his chair to stare at his ceiling unhappily. Tsuna hummed, going back to pick up Enma's stuff that were floating around.

"You're always dying." Koyo told him bluntly. Tsuna made a strange sound trying to stifle his laugh, prompting Enma to give him a wounded look.

The door opened for the second time that night, this time with an amused (or at least, she looked amused- Tsuna couldn't tell for sure) Shitt P. standing in the doorway with a large bowl filled to the brim with M&Ms in her hands. "Snacks," she said in a way of greeting before placing down the ball next to Enma's computer and flouncing off. The boys exchanged puzzled looks before Koyo shrugged and grabbed a handful of the treats.

Julie walked past the door that moment, peering into the room for only a brief moment before shuffling off again, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'dorks'.

Tsuna grinned.


	11. More Alleyways

**Author's Note: **Har har har, I'm back! This time with an actual chapter! Apparently, I have a thing for alleyways now. Don't know why, they're just fun to use . . .

I have a question. How do you use a semicolon (this thing ';')? Properly, that is. I try to avoid using it because I don't know how, but it would be nice to know.

_**Update (July 20th):**_ Okay, I've uploaded this chapter again because it wasn't showing up. Hopefully people will be able to read it this time.

**Author:** C.S. Thompson

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn, Mukuro (how many of you will notice this, I wonder?) and the Varia. Implications of bullying and actual bullying. Implications of violence. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Eight:****  
More Alleyways  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_'Rule number three. If you lie, give a half truth.'  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"That concert was amazing," I-Pin gushed, giving everyone a wide eyed look. I-Pin's friend, Lambo gave a lazy smile, watching his friend through one droopy eye. Tsuna laughed happily, giddy from the adrenaline rush that he had gotten at the concert. Beside him, Enma was also smiling widely.

It had been awkward at first when they had all met up outside the mall three hours ago. Tsuna and Enma had decided to go to the mall early so that they wouldn't be late, but apparently I-Pin and her friend had the same idea. They saw each other at the mall and decided to stay together while they killed time. It had been fun when they found something that they could all relate to.

Comics. And music, and the internet, and food, but still. _Comics_.

"I'm so jealous of you, Enma-chan!" Tsuna hacked, trying desperately to cover up his laugh as I-Pin was lectured by Lambo about the use of Japanese honorifics. Enma was blushing quite a bit at the slight blunder. He discreetly whacked Tsuna when a snort made it past the hand covering his mouth. I-Pin rolled her eyes, ignoring Lambo to peek around Tsuna and look at Enma. "You got to go on stage," she commented wistfully.

Truthfully, Tsuna was a bit jealous that Enma had been picked to go onto the stage and sing with the band American Rejects. The lead singer, Skull, had even said offhandedly that he was impressed by Enma's singing. Tsuna didn't really mind that much though, Enma deserved the recognition. He was one of the best singers that Tsuna knew, but he had a _monster _of an inferiority complex. Tsuna was still working on getting rid of it.

Enma rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, something that he had picked up from Tsuna. "He made me sing though," he mumbled shyly, looking at his tattered shoes.

Tsuna smiled lightly. "That's a good thing, isn't it? I mean, you do have a gig next week, right?" When Enma nodded, Tsuna continued. "Think of it as experience." I-Pin gasped dramatically at that little tidbit of information.

"You have a band?" She asked excitedly. Lambo peered at them curiously with one green eye, his hands shoved into his pockets. Enma nodded, staring at the ground in embarrassment. He tended to do that when he was with other people, Tsuna noted. (The Shimon group and Tsuna didn't count.) It was actually a bit amusing to Tsuna, because whenever the two were alone Enma was rather blunt. Enma did a complete one eighty when he was around strangers, and it was funny for Tsuna to see a bashful Enma.

"We'll be there then!" Tsuna heard I-Pin say when he finally payed attention to the conversation. Tsuna almost laughed when Enma hurriedly tried to dissuade the younger girl. He already knew it was a lost cause. I-Pin seemed like the stubborn type, if beating up her older cousin for not meeting her moral standards was any clue.

"I-Pin, we're going this way," Lambo interjected breezily when they reached a junction in the street. I-Pin looked up from where she had been shooting down each and every one of Enma's arguments with an alarming amount of polite ruthlessness. I-Pin gave her friend a bright smile before turning back to the them, twirling a long braid around her fingers absentmindedly.

"We'll see you guys next week then. Feel free to call us before that though," she told them happily. Tsuna blinked in confusion.

"But we don't have your phone numbers," he said, zipping up his jacket after a cold breeze blew by. I-Pin waved her hand dismissively, while Lambo muttered something under his breath, pointedly looking at the sky and not at the people next to him.

"I put our numbers in them at the mall." Tsuna didn't remember that happening, not at all. He shared a look with Enma. Apparently Enma didn't either. Well, that was just a bit creepy. Strangely, Tsuna didn't find himself too disturbed by it. I-Pin was a ninja and that was that. Maybe Tsuna has been spending too much time blogging, because in middle school he was sure that he would have freaked out. Bunny had desensitized him a bit, he supposed.

"Erm, right. Be careful on your way home." They bid their farewells to each other. I-Pin and Lambo went down the narrower street to the right while Enma and Tsuna followed the road in front of them.

- X

He was running.

The world was flying past him at the speed he was going. Lights blurred, becoming bright spots in a haze of dark colours. Panting tiredly, his mind raced to form a plan to escape his pursuers. The blood running down his hand was dripping onto the cement beneath his feet, foiling a few ideas that had popped up. Of all the nights to leave behind his tool kit, it has to be the night when he runs into some people from a rival gang and then some more unsavory people.

A shout behind him. They were coming closer, and he was getting slower. Pretty soon they would catch up to him, he was sure. He couldn't keep running all night . . .

Thinking quickly, he spotted an alleyway nearby. He ran quickly to it, panting when he finally stopped. Without a thought of the consequences of contaminating an open wound, he placed his cut up hand against the dirty and stained wall, wincing when he dragged his hand a short distance to smear the blood. He quickly walked a few paces forwards and flicked more blood onto the floor.

Stepping back, he looked at his handiwork. It looked exactly as he wanted, like he had tired out and stopped for a moment to lean on the wall before moving forward. It was an easy trick, but it would be enough to fool the buffoons following him.

Carefully, he placed his injured hand against his shirt so that he didn't leave a trail of blood and ducked into an alley, nearly throwing himself into the bags of trash piled so conveniently. A moment afterwards the sound of rushed footsteps ran past the alleyway. He peered at the alley opening, holding back a snort as he watched a small group of identically dressed teenagers rush past. They were distinctive and easy to recognize with their old fashioned pompadours and pristine uniforms.

The city's pseudo police force, the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori High.

Rokudo Mukuro smirked widely once he was sure they were gone. The ones that were after him were grunts, as evidenced from the silver lined arm bands they wore. (He knew the hierarchy of the Committee fairly well. He knew everything about Namimori fairly well.) Hibari should know that sending weaklings after him was a waste of both of their time. There was no way that he would be caught by the likes of _them_. They weren't even good enough to make him use some of his more . . . creative tricks.

Then again, he mused as he gingerly wormed his way out of the trash he had been hiding in, Hibari didn't know that it was Mukuro behind the gang fights. Not really behind them, but involved nonetheless.

And if he had it his way, Hibari wouldn't figure it out for some time more. It was amusing to see the other teen so irritable about _groups _of people 'ruining the peace', especially when he couldn't catch them. Gangs were like that, always fighting for territory and recognition but scrambling into dark corners when the authorities came. Much like cockroaches. A fitting description, he thought as he looked around to see if he recognized the place he was in. Unsurprisingly, he did.

Mukuro chuckled at the irony of his thoughts. He was one of those filth, but he was surely not an insignificant _bug_. He was much bigger, better, than that, he thought as he headed deeper into the alleyway, careful to stick to the walls and shadows. Not a cowardly rat, either, he has crushed so many of them during his misadventures that he was something entirely different.

He walked with a slight but well hidden limp in his confident stride, his injured hand still pressed against his shirt that was now stained with blood. He payed it no mind. He had a coat that he could use to cover it if he needed to, and the bleeding was slowing to a sluggish stop now. He ignored the soft mewl of a kitten as he walked by a box, he couldn't do anything for it.

A soft hiss resounded on the other side of the alleyway, making Mukuro jerk in surprise. A rather big garter snake was coiled against the wall, wedged between a ripped open bag of trash and the small cardboard box that housed the small, almost dead kitten. He quirked an eyebrow, an almost relieved chuckle escaping him as he stowed away the switchblade that he didn't even remember taking out.

He stayed where he was for a moment, observing the snake and the kitten with undisguised curiosity. He watched as the garter snake slowly slithered into the box next to the helpless animal, feeling rather baffled when it curled around the thing. Taking a step closer, the black kitten perked up, peering up at his looming figure with one blue eye. It's other eye was closed shut, a pink scar running over it. The snake constricted around it when he took another step closer, staring at him with beady eyes. They both ignored the soft mewl of the cat to stare at each other.

They were an odd pair. Different in nature and looks, yet they were together in this disgusting place. They reminded him far too much of him and his sister, to be honest. It was a rather disconcerting thought, comparing himself to a snake that was no doubt someone's run away pet.

Mukuro snorted. He supposed that if there was any animal that suited him best, it would be this snake.

The snake escaped from its owner while Mukuro escaped from that wretched foster care system. The snake survived on the streets and is obviously thriving while Mukuro survived the streets and thrived just as well. The snake met this weak, useless creature and decided to care for it. Mukuro met Nagi, now Chrome.

Truly, they were both fools, but that was all just as well because they were on their way to being the king of the streets. Not that Mukuro wanted such a frivolous title, all that would do for him is paint a target on his back, and in turn his sister. That wouldn't do. Not at all. Now if only his old gang would understand that. Perhaps he should teach them a little lesson soon? They were getting a bit rowdy. They were forgetting who was in charge, he thought darkly.

On a whim, Mukuro reached for the scarf that hid his face from others, unwinding it from his neck. Carefully, he placed it on both of the animals in the box before turning and stalking away. A thought came unbidden to his mind as he went farther and farther away from them. If he was the snake, then Hibari was the hawk. Mukuro couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up.

He took a right, then a left, sure in his knowledge of all of the side streets and pathways in the city. He knew them like the back of his hand, after all. He was getting closer to the main street that led to his home.

Mukuro sighed, remembering that he would have to deal with the wastes of space that were his adoptive parents. One would think that they would leave him alone as they did with Chrome, but no. They did the opposite with him, always asking where he was going, why he had come home late, who had he been talking to on the phone. He drove them crazy with his half answers, of course. Those idiots deserved whatever came at them-

"Hey there, Natsu. What are you doing out here?" A soft voice broke through his thoughts. On instinct, Mukuro dove deeper into the thick shadows of the alleyway. Peering around the corner, he watched with his hetero-chromatic eyes as a boy with wild, brown hair petted a chubby looking ginger cat.

Goodness. He had gotten too complacent and nearly walked into plain view of a _boy_, who no doubt would scream when he saw all the blood. Oh. The blood. He looked down at his shirt with a grimace, the front of it was soaked and sticky. It looked as if he had come out of a bad slasher film. He should have known better than to wear white, he thought.

With painstaking caution, Mukuro pulled his coat closed, buttoning it as he took a small step back. He paused, making sure that the boy that was still distracted by the cat in front of him hadn't heard him. "Enma's in the convenience store right now. Do you remember him?" The boy asked the cat, cooing when the cat meowed vaguely. Mukuro almost scoffed, but instead took another step back, pausing again.

He took two quick steps back, making sure his coat was secured over his chest and his beanie covered the majority of his hair. When he tried to take another, bigger step backwards, he stepped into a mass of crinkled up newspaper and bubble wrap that had spilled out of a box. The boy looked up, and Mukuro was surprised to see that the boy was not, in fact, a boy, but someone around the same age as him. Just rather short.

"Hello?" He called, peering nervously at the spot where Mukuro stood exactly.

Mukuro cursed inwardly, weighing his options. He could either run, making himself look like a possible criminal and probably aggravate his sprained ankle just a bit, or he could go up to the boy and say hi and leave just as quickly. "Is anyone there?" The boy- teen, rather- called out again, standing up from his squatting position. Mukuro forced out a chuckle as he jammed sunglasses onto his face and stepped out of the shadows. He looked entirely suspicious with sunglasses on in the middle of the night, but his eyes were too distinctive to forgo them.

"Er, hey there. Sorry if I scared you," Mukuro croaked, making his voice an octave higher and hunching in on himself. He pushed up his sunglasses sheepishly to add to his act. It felt distinctively wrong to act like a normal, if slightly socially awkward teen when he clearly wasn't. It never felt right when he acted like someone else or when he faked his emotions, but he had long ago gotten used to that uncomfortable feeling. On the street, being honest was useless in most cases.

Interestingly, when he stepped closer the other took a faltering step back. Oh, this one had sharp instincts. How intriguing.

"It's fine . . . I-is that _blood_?" Damn it. He had forgotten about the blood on his hand.

He let out an embarrassed chuckle, watching the nameless teen's face with keen eyes behind his sunglasses and remembering rule number three. "I had a run in with some thugs . . ." Mukuro lied smoothly, trailing off to let the boy make his own conclusions.

_Rule number three. If you lie, give a half truth._

The boy's apprehensive expression morphed into one of sincere concern, which surprised him a bit more. He would have thought that the boy would first be relieved before thinking about Mukuro's welfare. What's more, it actually looked genuine. How . . . humbling. "Are you hurt?" He asked. Mukuro hesitated before nodding. He figured that it couldn't hurt. The person in front of him was so obviously not a fighter that the thought that the boy would try to fight him was laughable.

"M-may I see your hand?"

Mukuro gave his hand, letting him inspect the rather deep cut on his hand. The teen frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in worry. "This will get infected if you don't clean it," he murmured, glancing at Mukuro's face. Mukuro gave him a sheepish grin, taking his hand back slowly when the other finally let go. The other in front of him was right. It would get infected if he didn't take care of it properly.

It would be a pain if he could no longer play his bass . . .

"Um, h-here. Let me tie this around you hand," he said, holding up a clean, white handkerchief. Mukuro allowed the boy, wondering if the other wanted something from him. A look in his eye's told Mukuro his answer, however.

"I'm Kiri," Mukuro said suddenly, using one of his many fake names. The boy in front of him jumped in surprise, peeking up at him with a shy expression. Mukuro looked at him expectantly.

"T-Tsuna. Hang on, there should be some stuff for your hand in the convenience store," and with that, the boy ran out of the street to the convenience store that was right across the street from where they were. As soon as he was in the store, Mukuro ran silently up the fire escape. (_Rule five, always go up, people don't look up-_) He settled down comfortably in the darkest spot and stuffed his sunglasses back into his pocket. It wouldn't do if he was found because of some light glinting off of them. Underneath him, the cat that had been identified as Natsu yowled, wandering over to the mouth of the alley.

Only three minutes passed before the other was rushing back into the alley, a bottle of antiseptic in one hand, some gauze in the other, and a redhead trailing behind him.

"Where'd he go?" The redhead asked his friend. Tsuna shrugged his eyes scanning the alleyway before resting on the cat. He sighed, walking over to the cat and scratching it on it's head.

"Hey Natsu, I don't suppose you know where he went?" The cat simply turned onto it's back pawing at the gauze that was dangling in above of it. "I guess that's a no," The people below him stayed like they were for a few moments more, the new one watching over his friend with bright red eyes that Mukuro could see even when he was this high, and the more familiar of the two squatting down next to the cat, scratching it's head absentmindedly.

The redhead walked over to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's getting late Tsuna," Tsuna looked up at the redhead, a small smile playing on his lips. Natsu got up then, wandering deeper into the alley with it's nose held high and tail swaying in the air.

"Yeah, you're right, Enma." Tsuna said. He mad a move to get up, but paused, staring at the items in his arms contemplatively. He put them on the ground neatly before standing up with a leisurely stretch. They walked away, back into the main street where there were lights, sounds and people, leaving behind a cheap bottle of disinfectant, a slightly ragged roll of gauze and a rather bemused Mukuro.

Tsuna. A nice enough name, Mukuro mused, remembering those chocolate coloured eyes. A strange mix of naivety and perceptiveness, along with a type of kindness that Mukuro hadn't seen in years shone in those eyes. He chuckled as he remembered something, a genuine one that sounded nothing like the nervous ones he made for Tsuna during his act. It was a darker one, unique and distinctive.

Hadn't Gokudera-kun said something about tutoring a classmate of his?

(He had a feeling that they would meet again.)

* * *

No songs this time. Isn't that amazing?

(And does anyone else find it horribly amusing that Tsuna thinks that _Enma_ is the one with the massive inferiority complex?)


	12. Four Father Figures

**Author's Note: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Especially those that answered my question! The site given was very helpful. On another note, in reply to some reviews, Mukuro was not hiding his pain or acting cool. He was faking, lying and acting like a totally different person so that Tsuna wouldn't report him to the police or something. Besides, he's too BAMF to feel pain.

Nuvola Tenri and Misaki Yoshino, you two probably think that I totally forgot about your song requests/suggestions, didn't you?

**Author:** C.S. Thompson

**Summary: **Sawada Tsunayoshi was a normal, average boy. In fact, he was below average. He was clumsy, got below average scores on all of his tests, couldn't do any sports for the life of him and had virtually no talents to speak of. Tsuna knew this better than anyone, and accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't get very far in life, even if he somehow managed to get through high school.

He accepted that he would (basically) amount to nothing.

So when a band manager by the name of Reborn scouts him specifically for the one of the things he was actually good at (which he also sort-of failed at too), Tsuna was understandably confused.

"You want me to become an international singer?"

**Rating:** T

**Warnings:** Hibari Kyouya, Reborn, Rokudo Mukuro and the Varia. Implications of bullying and actual bullying. Implications of violence. Swearing.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! in any shape or form. I am not making any money out of this fanfiction. I do not own any of the songs mentioned or will be mentioned in this fanfiction, either. Both the manga and songs belong to their respective owners.

~ ' * ' ~

**Chapter Nine:****  
Four Father Figures  
**

~ Melancholy is a foreign feeling. ~

_''Seventy percent,''  
_

~ ' * ' ~

"Hello?"

"_Ah, good morning, Tsuna-kun._"

"Fon-san! Is something wrong?"

"_No, no. Everything's fine at the bakery. I'm just calling to ask you about this weekend._"

"Oh. Um, what about it?"

"_Enma-kun is playing at that music event at the cultural center, right? This Saturday?_"

"Uh, yeah. I hope that it's no problem? I'm pretty sure that he told you about not coming to work and all . . ."

"_Oh no, it's not a problem at all. I was just thinking about closing the bakery on that day. My niece wanted to go and I thought that we could spend the day together, so . . ._"

"That's sounds nice, Fon-san. I don't mind if you close the bakery for the day. I'll be able to surprise Enma, ha ha!"

"_Thank you, Tsuna-kun. I haven't spent much time with my niece since she's living with my other nephew. Maybe we'll see you at the event?_"

"Ha ha, maybe. Well, if that's all I'd best get studying, Fon-san."

"_Oh dear, I'm sorry from keeping you from your studies, Tsuna-kun!_"

"It's no problem, really. Talking to you is much better than doing all this homework. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"_Mm. Good bye, Tsuna-kun._"

"Ah, bye Fon-san."

- X -

"You're an idiot," Reborn said, like it's not unusual for him to say. It isn't, actually. He says that at least once a day.

"Thanks," Tsuna mumbled dryly, squinting at the paper in front of him. On the radio that was perched precariously at the edge of Tsuna's bookshelf, _Shake It Off _by Florence and the Machine was playing, the strong voice of the lead singer filling the small room even on the low volume it was on. The two of them sat at the small desk in Tsuna's room.

It was Friday afternoon. Reborn had come early from whatever he did and had decided to 'help' Tsuna with his homework. The window was open, the sun was spilling in to fill the entire room with its orange-y hues. His room was a bit of a mess, his homework all over the desk, mixed in with song lyrics and chords. His guitar was on the bed, lying innocently amongst the mass pillow and blankets that Tsuna had hoarded. On the floor his school uniform lay in a messy heap next to the laundry basket while his school bag was propped up against the bed post.

"_-dance, with a devil on your back! So shake him off, oh woah!_*"

He wished he could.

"Let's move on to the next question. What causes rainbows?" Reborn asked, lounging on the seat at Tsuna's desk and holding a piece of paper full of messy scribbles. Tsuna groaned, falling back onto his bed and narrowly avoiding banging his head on his guitar's fretboard. Tsuna screwed his face up in thought, trying to recall the information that Reborn had spent the better half of the hour drilling into his head.

"The sunlight hits the water droplets in the air and, um, the light is separated into different colours because the water, uh, bends it?" He answered falteringly. Reborn made a somewhat pleased sound before moving on to another question, ignoring when Tsuna breathed out a sigh of relief.

"_-equested by Misaki, If You Can't Hang!_"

"How much of the earth is covered by water?"

Tsuna perked up, he knew this one. "Seventy percent," he said, not bothering to hide the pleased grin on his face when Reborn makes the same sound again.

"Name all the stages a cell goes through to divide. Including those 'sub-stages'." Tsuna huffed unhappily, flopping down again. Reborn just had to jump to the one subject that he hated most. He lay down in thought, combing through his memories to see if he knew the answer. "Can I tap out?" Tsuna asked, only half joking.

"_-that's okay*,_" when did song lyrics start becoming so ironic?

"This is the last question," Reborn informed him. Apparently, he didn't agree with the song that was belting out from the blue and silver radio. Tsuna sighed, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. Behind his eyelids Tsuna could only see a pinkish red. He was tired, he hadn't been sleeping properly for a few days because he was obsessing over school work and music.

"Interphase, mitosis and cytokinesis. Mitosis has prophase, metaphase, anaphase and . . . telophase?"

"Right. I think we should take a break before we start on history." Oh God, he had forgotten about that.

Tsuna stared up at his ceiling unseeingly, his mind wandering as Reborn shuffled some papers. Tsuna didn't envy Reborn, his desk was a complete pig sty right now. It had taken him a full five minutes to search for his laptop yesterday, and a full fifteen minutes to find his iPod. In fact, he still hasn't found it. That was why he was using the radio to fill the silence.

"_-please be mine?_"

"Do you like music?" Reborn asked languidly, stretched out elegantly in the cramped room. Tsuna grumbled an affirmative. It wasn't really a secret.

"_-was Sleeping With Sirens! Next request is-_"

"Alright, what's wrong?" Reborn sighed, sitting up and lowering the radio's volume so that it was a low murmur. Tsuna blinked, pushing himself up a bit to stare at the older man with a raised eyebrow. "You're sulking," he explained, waving a hand at Tsuna before combing his hand through his messy hair. Tsuna blinked again, remembering his attitude for the past hour. That wasn't sulking, not really. That had been him stressing out over school work and a song request from the devil.

Reborn only snorted when he told him so. "What's wrong with the song request then?"

Tsuna finally sat up, snatching a piece of wrinkled paper on the very top of the piles of paper on his desk. Beautiful Girl*, it read. "This, this is what's wrong." Tsuna huffed unhappily, almost flopping down again in a heap of teenage angst. He stopped himself though, because while Reborn disliked hipsters and swag and scorpions and bright greens and cows- a lot of things, actually- he absolutely _hated _self-pity. (And he had a gun.)

Reborn raised an eyebrow as he read through the lyrics, waiting expectantly for Tsuna to elaborate. "I'm not good at romanctic songs, don't really like them, but this one's harder because I can't get it right for some reason."

"Dame-Tsuna, play it." Reborn ordered him after a moment. Tsuna thought about saying no. He didn't like singing in front of others, in fact, he hated doing so. Whenever he videoed himself doing a song request, he never showed his face, he closed the door when he practiced and only sang with Enma when he was cajoled to. But then again, Reborn could actually help him with his problem. And he wasn't the type to criticize and put down other people in the same malicious way as Tsuna's bullies, not really, at least.

Screw it. Reborn didn't have anyone to gossip with about his failures (right?).

He grabbed his guitar, getting comfortable and took deep, calming breath.

- X -

_**Tuna-Fish**_**'s Blog**  
Recent Entries l Archive l Friends l User Info

_**My Wonderful Life**_  
**Because everyone needs a place to rant.**

_June 12th, 20XX at 10:32 PM_

Ugh.

Sunny is tutoring me in singing. I don't know how it happened, no freaking clue.  
I never had singing lessons. There's more to singing than I ever thought. I mean,  
vocal warmups? I knew about them, but I didn't know they were that important.  
I feel stupid now. More so than usual.

School is horrible. Like usual. I'm getting so much homework and projects to  
do. At least Octo-Head isn't glaring at me anymore. And Moe is just sort of  
avoiding me now. His cousin Penny is doing the opposite, though. She calls  
True-Flame and I every now and then, it's nice.

I finally finished Nuvola Tenri's request! It took a lot of time, but I managed.  
Turns out my strumming was off. Can't help it much, though. I like faster  
paced songs.

**Mood:** Exhausted  
**Tags: **_real life_, _school_, _music_  
_  
See previous posts_

Leave a comment [27]

_BunnyofDOOM: _Hey! so Sunny is actually tutoring you? It's not that far fetched that he can help you with music- he's a band manager, isn't he? He has to have some knowledge about music, I guess. Good cover, by the way. Not as good as your other covers, but still pretty good. And you've never had singing lessons? What the heck, my mom made me take one and I'm still not as good as you!

_Tuna-Fish: _I guess you're right about Sunny. It would be sort of sad if a band got a manager that didn't know a thing about music . . . Yeah, not my best. Probably one of my worst. I'm not good at songs like that, not really.

_BunnyofDOOM: _Yeah, it would be sort of sad. I agree. I think it was probably in the top seven of your badly done covers. (First place being you first video.) Oh, it's nice to hear that you've gotten that octopus problem solved. Who would have thought that food would work so well? I guess there is some truth in the saying 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach'.

_Tuna-Fish: _Aren't you supposed to be comforting me and saying that it isn't as bad as I think? (Second place is definitely the This Love* cover.)

_BunnyofDOOM: _Why should I? That's called compliment fishing, Tuna. Bad fish. (I thought it was the Eeinie Meenie*- not because of how you did it. It's more on principal, I don't like the guy.)

_Tuna-Fish: _. . . Bad fish? (Okay, that was probably third place. I didn't like the song either, but it was requested and I suck at saying no.)

_BunnyofDOOM: _Your a fish. Maybe I should start calling you fishy? (Dude.)

_Tuna-Fish: _Please. (Dude.)

_BunnyofDOOM: _HA. You thought I would stop calling you sweetheart, didn't you? Not a chance. (Lol.)

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Hi again! My teachers are doing the same thing, too! My grades are pretty bad compared to my friend's. He's like a genius. Maybe I can get him to tutor me? Anyway, not a bad cover! The strumming was a bit off in this video, like you said, but it wasn't horrible. Ha ha, what songs do you like then? I like the slower paced ones, but I try not to limit myself to those.

_Tuna-Fish: _Hello to you too. I've got a classmate tutoring me and Sunny, so I think I'm alright. Go ahead and ask, I'm sure he won't mind. You two are friends after all. Ah, I like a variety of songs. My favourite bands are American Rejects and Shimon, currently. I like one or two of Decimo's songs, like Secrets. What about you?

_xSamuraiHeartx: _Ha ha, I'll ask him tomorrow then! I don't know what genre I like. I just like songs with good lyrics and beats, really. I like Decimo's Secrets too! It's a lot different to the pop songs I hear on the radio.

_Cloud: _I have yet to bite punish the octopus herbivore.

_Tuna-Fish: _Erm, you don't have to.

_Cloud: _Not for you. He's breaking school rules.

_Tuna-Fish: _Ah . . . Wait, did I remind you about that?

_Cloud: _Yes.

_Tuna-Fish: _Oh. I just signed my classmate's death warrant. I feel bad now.

_Mr. Extreme: _I'VE NEVER HEARD OF VOCAL WARMUPS. GOOD JOB ON THE COVER, BY THE WAY.

_Tuna-Fish: _Well, I didn't think about them either, so it's all good. And thank you.

_Mr. Extreme: _NO PROBLEM.

_Scorpion Ai: _Hello, sweetheart. Another cover I see. I am glad that Octo-Head isn't bothering you anymore. I told you that food always works, but you didn't believe me. And Sunny . . . I think he may be my love after all.

_Tuna-Fish: _Hello to you too. Is this the part where you say that you're always right and I say that a man can never win an argument against a woman? Sunny may be your lover? The one you haven't seen in years?

_Scorpion Ai: _You can't win an argument against me at all. You are very bad at debating, so it naturally carries over to arguing with someone. And yes, that one man that slipped away from me. I think he is Sunny.

_Tuna-Fish: _Gee, thanks. So what are you going to do then? If Sunny really is your lover? I can't really tell you much about him, because I barely know anything about him myself. He's very . . . private.

_Scorpion Ai: _You live in Namimori, yes? I've decided to come from America and stay with my little brother for awhile. He lives there currently. I suppose I'll have to figure out what I am going to do as I go. Thankfully, because of the modern technology I can continue working without worries.

_Tuna-Fish: _You're coming to Namimori? That's so cool! I didn't know I lived in the same city as your little brother. You mentioned him tons of times, but never in detail.

- X -

"Tsuna! Get off your computer and come talk to your father!" Tsuna jumped in his seat at the shout. Oh. He had forgotten that today was one of his father's once-in-a-month Skype sessions. He frowned, he didn't really want to talk to that man, but his mother would get angry if he didn't at least say hello.

"I'm coming mom," he called, giving the laptop in front of him a forlorn look before closing it with a click. He ventured out of his room for the first time in hours, not bothering to close his door. It spoke volumes of how used to Reborn he had gotten, Tsuna thought as he stretches with a yawn. He's practically one of those really quirky uncles (though perhaps slightly homicidal was a better description).

He padded down the stairs absentmindedly, not at all surprised when he tripped on the second last step and went crashing down into the hard, wooden flooring with a shriek. Tsuna groaned, rubbing his backside as he got up, and cursing his clumsiness. He limped into the living room a moment later, almost shaking his head when he found his mother sitting in front of a laptop set on the coffee table. She hadn't even bothered to investigate the noise.

Then again, he mused, he would be used to the yelling too.

Nana looked up when he came in with a face of delight. "Tsuna! Quickly, quickly- come say hello to daddy!" Tsuna almost winced at the title. 'Daddy'.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," he said anyway, going over to where his mother sat on the beaten up couch. He sat down heavily, wiggling in his seat a bit before looking at the screen. A man with a sharp chin and a proud nose was grinning toothily in the screen. His short blond hair looked messy, and he had a rugged look to him with his scruffy beard. It contrasted a lot with the clean black suit that he wore. "Hi, dad," Tsuna sighed.

"Tsuna! How's my boy doing?" Iemitsu said excitedly. He didn't seem to get that Tsuna would rather not be here.

"I'm fine." Tsuna said curtly as he inspected the place behind his father, trying to get a feel of where he was. Tsuna always did this, but the place Iemitsu 'called' from rarely changed. Off white walls could be seen over his father's right shoulder. To the left was a bookcase made of dark wood. Tsuna had long ago guessed that it must be made of ebony. The titles for the books found there were small, but the ones that Tsuna could read were a mix of English and a foreign language.

". . . new friend . . ." his mother said.

On one shelf of the book case was an object that Tsuna knew well. A lion plushie with an orange mane and button eyes sat upright, leaning on a red book that read _War and Peace _on its spine. He knew for a fact that its right paw that was hanging limply had black stitches running along the side, and its tail was a sad little thing that was a patchwork of colourful stitches. He knew because it had been his childhood toy, which he had given to his uncle when he was eight to 'keep him from being lonely'.

"Is uncle Ieyasu there?" Tsuna found himself asking. His mother paused to give her son a cross look, but his father laughed it off.

"Why yes. Yes I am," a smooth voice said. Another blonde man with kind amber eyes walked into the view of the camera to peer over Iemitsu's shoulder. Tsuna grinned in excitement when the man gave him an amused smile that showed off a dimple on his left cheek.

"Uncle Ieyasu! How are you?"

He chuckled, leaning on Iemitsu's chair. "I'm well. Have you been practicing with your guitar, Tsuna?"

"Of course," he replied. In the screen his father sulked, but Tsuna payed him no mind. Of course he had practiced. Of course he would say yes to the man that had spent almost all of his free time teaching him how to play the guitar. Of course he would squirm happily when his uncle praised him for staying in practice. This was his uncle, the man who was like a father to him the few times that Tsuna got to stay with him in Italy.

"How is school then?" Tsuna beamed.

A long while later, when Tsuna was finally saying his good byes with his uncle, his uncle said something very surprising.

"Say hello to Reborn for me, will you?"

- X -

* _'-dance, with a devil on your back! So shake him off, oh woah!_' Lyrics from the song Shake It Off by Florence + the Machine.

*'_That's okay . . . please be mine?_' Lyrics from the song If You Can't Hang by Sleeping With Sirens.

* Beautiful Girl is by Christian Bautista.

* This Love is by Maroon 5.

* Eeinie Meenie is by Justin Beiber.


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